A Girl Walks Into A Bar
by TheSilverMirror
Summary: AU. NejiTen, SasuTen, SasuSaku and more. A series of 'one-shots' that are connected to each other. Each chapter plays out almost like an episode of a drama, and goes into the character's pasts and experiences. Tenten and Neji both went through the United States foster care system. Sasuke is a playboy, but also has a dark past. Takes place in fictional town in California.
1. Heaven Dog Sports Bar

**Author's Note: **If Kishimoto ever asked me to pay him personally and this is affirmed by the media, I will hand him my credit card and then promptly jump off a bridge and then take myself to the nearest inpatient mental hospital. Thankfully this will never happen. But just in case, I know a few good ones. Hospitals that is.

I don't own Naruto. If I found him in another universe, he'd be mad at me. So thus... No Naruto is not my slave, neither are any of the other characters in this story. I am just the scribe who sits in a corner and writes down what's happening. Nothing more, nothing less.

* * *

><p><strong>A Girl Walks into A Bar<strong>

There is a pagoda that looks over a city. Not a large city, not a small city... just a city. The slopping roof of the building, hides to some extent that it is actually a multi-level shopping mall like establishment. This building, a full 15 stories tall, contains a small hospital, several governmental offices, a few small inns, a library, an art museum, a few clothing boutiques, an arcade, several restaurants, and a privately owned sports club and bar.

On the top floor of this establishment, is the Heaven Dog Sports Bar. It's a place that's been open since before the city was a city and instead was called a village. Recently it has undergone a renovation. Tonight is the first night it is to be open since the renovation. On a typical evening, the bar opens from 5pm until midnight. Due to the grand re-opening, this night the bar is intended to be open from 5pm until 3am. It is currently 3:30pm.

Stepping inside the bar, you will see rows upon rows of television screens hanging from the ceiling. The ceiling has many wires dangling around and if one were to look straight up it might resemble an exotic jungle. This is because there is a small sky-light beaming bits of sunlight down from the top. The light hitting the wires, in addition to some artfully placed decoration pieces and a rather elaborate mural of leaves and birds, has the entire ceiling resembling a tropical paradise, or the entrance of a small cave. The walls are covered with plaques and memorabilia of various sports stars, movie actors and actresses, politicians, writers, and a number of other famous people who had previously enjoyed a brief respite here during the heyday of this city. Decorative ivy and flowering wall plants grow from pots that are hung onto hooks in judiciously placed spots. The result is a draping of green interwoven between the photo frames and the plaques. On one side of the bar, there's a small fountain bubbling gently. Next to the fountain is a pool table and on the wall next to the pool table is a row of dart boards. The entire room is a shaped like a rectangle with the entrance door on the narrower part of the rectangle. The bar counter is located directly opposite of the fountain. In between the fountain and the bar counter are rows upon rows of tables and chairs.

This week is the first week after the major sporting events of the season ended. Thus, the television screens will most likely be running re-runs of the games that most of the patrons at the bar have already watched. Between the rows of tables and chairs runs a path that leads to a small stage area. Tonight is an open-mic night. Not many people usually get up and sing at first. A few drinks later, someone will eventually be standing up on that stage, and then the rest would follow that person's lead.

At the moment, the bar has not yet opened up for business. It is a quiet and rather lonely place. A young man is diligently wiping away at the counter top, and getting ready for his job as a bartender this night. His long black hair is tied back into a low pony-tail by a hair-band. He has a small green tattoo on his forehead. However, this is hidden by the black headband he is wearing. His attire is decent and respectable. His features are of an aristocratic sort. His posture even as he is polishing a wine-glass has the assured sophistication of a young man raised within a wealthy household. He appears at peace, and in the moment. He looks very relaxed.

Neji wonders how many days it has been since he's left the Hyuuga mansion and household. Despite financial pressures of living on his own, he feels that he has enjoyed the feeling of freedom and independence of this... experiment. His uncle still objects to Neji's current living arrangement. It's only a small studio apartment, nowhere befitting someone of Neji's status. This is according to his uncle. However, for Neji, despite how small it is, it is simple and efficient... much more suitable for living, in fact, than that awful and gloomy mansion. In truth, Neji's only regret in this decision is that he left behind some unresolved issues with his younger female cousins. He is entirely sure that if Hanabi discovered his whereabouts, he has no doubts that there would be hell to pay. Hinata though... she would provide an entirely different sort of hell.

At the thought of Hinata, Neji begins to feel the sensations of his chest tightening. His heart begins to pound erratically. He feels nauseous. Neji quickly sets the wine glass aside on the counter. He presses his hands onto the flat surface in front of him, steadying himself. The dizzying sensation begins, and suddenly he feels like he cannot breathe. There is the sound of a door opening, cracking the silence in the room.

'Not now. Not now!' Neji begins to feel incredibly out of control.

A young woman about his age runs into the room. She is not paying attention to him, but her focus instead is on the scene outside in the hall. She quickly moves sideways in a fashion so that she is no longer visible to people outside of the bar. Soon, a rowdy group of young males of varying sizes can be seen running along the hallway. They pass the bar without taking much of a glance. There is a huge sign that says "Closed", and beneath that, another sign that says, "Grand Re-opening from 5pm - 3am". The young woman looks visibly relieved as the sound of these ruffians fade into the distance. Now, as she begins looking around she notices Neji.

He appears visibly tense, and sweating profusely. The feelings intensify for him. Feeling incredibly embarrassed and ashamed of the spectacle he is sure he is making of himself in front of this girl, he tries to concentrate on relaxing himself and breathing. The feelings intensify even further, to the extent that he has to crouch down beneath the counter. Neji presses his forehead against the little bit of space between the counter top and the containment area for the various beverage mixes and dressings. He desperately prays inside of his head for this episode to pass quickly.

"Neji?"

The sensations fade away. He recognizes that voice.

"Tenten?"

Neji shifts from the crouch, and slowly drags himself back up to a standing position.

He sees Tenten's concerned face, staring back at him. Her hair is out of its usual buns and instead is a messy batch of tangled snarls crumbling over her left shoulder. Her make-up is smeared, with eye-shadow and mascara running down her cheeks. She is wearing a flimsy outfit that might have resembled a dress if it hadn't been so torn and wrecked.

Neji notices that she only has one earring, and then notices that her other ear is torn and bloody. There are some visible bruises on her shoulder.

Almost as though planned, both Neji and Tenten ask at the same time,

"Are you alright?"

A moment of silence passes at this. Suddenly Tenten grins and starts to giggle almost uncontrollably. Despite himself, Neji too begins to smile.

Then, he notices the other visible and blatant signs that Tenten had recently been attacked. Her dress is torn in some places that make obvious the intentions of the ones who had harmed her.

Neji's expression and tone flatten. He becomes visibly tense and angry.

"Seriously Tenten. What happened? You... Are you really alright? Did they... Who did this to you?"

Tenten doesn't say anything, and instead her face becomes devoid of expression as though her mind has been transferred elsewhere. This reaction to the question, increases Neji's anxiety concerning Tenten's safety. He places a hand on her shoulder, or rather begins to. As soon as his hand touches her, she visibly flinches away from the touch and appears visibly startled.

Looking into Neji's concerned eyes is too much for her. Slowly and awkwardly, she sits down on the bar seat next to her, twists around and then leans back against the counter in a position facing away from Neji.

"I... I don't want to talk about it. Not now... not with you. We don't have that kind of relationship anymore. You wanted to end it, and so you did. I can't talk to you like I did in the past. I'll get confused."

"I haven't seen you since high school. You didn't attend the graduation ceremony, and neither Lee nor Gai knows where you have been. Do you know how long they have been trying to find you? Now you show up here... like this."

At his tone of voice, Tenten looks visibly offended. Anger and resentment bubbles up to the surface like a volcano.

"Look Neji, I had no idea you worked here! It's only a rather odd coincidence. I certainly never planned on bothering you ever again. So, if you're trying to make me feel guilty for causing you difficulties at work, I'm sorry but I don't feel it a bit. I hate to be blunt, but after what you said to me before we broke up, you don't have any right to be so sentimental about me being hurt. You've done more damage to me than any of those men ever did."

At this, Neji cringes visibly.

"I didn't_"

"And besides, who are you to talk!? You are certainly no better than me when it comes to leaving the ones you care about behind. Remember that party? Hinata nearly died that night because of those bastards _you_ invited! And_"

Neji closes his eyes. There are many things in the past he would rather not remember. It seems like some sort of divine notion of a joke, that just as he is beginning to feel some sort of peace in his life, this sort of event happens that drags back all of the things he'd rather just forget. He wonders if maybe his previous panic attack was a forewarning of some sort, or an omen. He hadn't had one of those in years.

Tenten stops ranting. She looks up and sees Neji with that expression on his face. She knows this expression. She's seen it sometimes in the night when Neji used to wake up with those horrible nightmares.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Neji. I didn't mean to bring that up... I might kind of hate your guts right now. But, I know that you're not really a bad guy. You saved Hinata in the end after all. It wasn't you who... You've come such a long way since when we were kids. And I know that, it's just... I guess I just wish I had been someone who could keep you happy."

Neji glances at the clock on the ball behind him. It says 4:00.

"Look Tenten. We can talk about this later. Right now, I need to get to work. If you want you can fix yourself up in the bathroom. Don't take too long though, because the customers will be arriving soon. And... here."

He steps over, opens a cabinet, and grabs a rather fashionable looking backpack. He unzips the bag, and takes out a nicely folded and expensive looking jacket.

He hands the jacket to her.

"I know you might not like me very much right now... but. Your dress... it's distracting. You should wear this."

"I don't want anything from you."

"Just take it."

A silent staring contest ensues. Finally, Tenten gives in.

"I can never win in these sorts of arguments with you. Fine, I'll wear the jacket. I'll give it back."

"You don't need to do that Tenten. I have plenty of jackets."

"No. I can't owe you anything. You might call me a whore who's only interested in your jackets. I don't know how you think of me now... but, I'd rather have at least a little more dignity than that."

"Tenten..."

"It's okay. I can forgive you for the past. Thank you for the jacket. I'm sorry I bothered you at work. Excuse me."

Slowly she gets off the bar seat. She looks to be in obvious pain. As she walks quietly walks away from the bar counter, she turns around and asks Neji for the location of the restroom.

He tells her.

As she moves towards the restroom, Neji notices that her gait is awkward. He closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. Why was it that every time he ever felt happy, something always happened to take it all away? Opening his eyes, he stares at the back of the girl whom he had previously loved and lost.

'Or maybe it is actually impossible for me to love another person.'

This was true, for a long time he had never felt particularly guilty when he hurt another person. He hurt everyone, and to some extent it helped the pain he felt inside, the loneliness and paranoia which had plagued his life for so long. It was never until Tenten that he ever felt regret for the loss of a relationship that had been the only important thing to him since his father and mother both died so long ago on that awful night.

'I need to get to work.'

The clock turns 5. Neji wonders how he is going to manage. Another 15 minutes pass, and the bar room is packed. The night has just arrived.

He looks around for Tenten, and notices her sitting quietly in a corner by the dart-boards. She is twirling a few darts. How she had acquired them, he does not know. Then he realizes that she must have picked the locked compartment that held the darts.

'I always did admire her skills in that area.'

Drink after drink is poured. Neji manages this very well considering none of the other bartenders have shown up today. It is already almost 7 o'clock. Another hour ticks by, and Neji receives a phone call via his cell phone. Quickly he answers the call. The manager is telling him that apparently two of the bar's employees were out joyriding and were involved in a drunk driving accident and he would have to cover for the night. The manager asks Neji if he has seen the bouncers. Neji replies that he has not. The manager sounds visibly angry over the phone, and appears to be complaining about getting good help in this economy and how no one wants to work at bars in the city. As this news is delivered, one of the patrons waiting for a drink begins to become angry.

"Where's my drink! You stinking Jap, stop yapping on the phone and get to work!"

This patron appears obviously intoxicated. Considering his use of the term, Neji comes to the conclusion that this man is obviously a foreigner. Foreigners are traditionally known for being rude and arrogant.

'Although, they typically hold their drink better. How many glasses has this man had?'

"Sir, you are obviously intoxicated. Are you sure you would like another drink."

"I'm not drunk! You just want to screw me out of my money! I paid a big tip! See?"

He promptly begins waving one of his hands while folding the tips of his fingers together tightly.

Neji observes this behavior, and then takes a closer look at the man's eyes. His pupils are severely dilated and his movements contain visible tremors. He is sweating profusely as well.

There is no money in his hand.

'This is bad,' thinks Neji. 'I can't manage a guy on drugs just by myself. Plus I can't tell if he has been taking anything else. This could become a liability issue... I can't let him drink anymore.

"I'm sorry sir, but you are clearly intoxicated. I am not allowed to serve you any drinks at this time. You need to go home. Do you need me to call you a taxi?"

"I don't need no taxi! You bar folks are all in leagues with the taxi companies to TAKE MY MONEY! You should all just go to hell!"

'I'm already there.' Neji mentally replies. However, not wanting to provoke a customer who is not sober, he keeps this comment to himself and remains silent. Neji begins serving a drink for another customer.

"There you go. Pour me a drink good lad. Pour me a drink like a good servant. Hahaha..."

The man's slobbering head hits the counter top with a thud. Neji considers checking for a pulse but then decides to observe this man for a while before committing to any unnecessary actions.

Neji finishes making 3 drinks and begins walking over to the group of young men who ordered the drinks. This group of customers are sitting at a table near the dart boards.

Before he reaches the table however, the intoxicated man suddenly sits up.

"HEY! Where are you going with my drink!? Come back here!"

Neji ignores him.

"Come back here! You hear me you fucking homo! Else I'm going to have your ass! Come back here!"

Neji continues to ignore him, walking towards the other end of the room.

A blanket of silence steadily falls upon the bar. People watch the exchange in curiosity.

This curiosity soon turns into abject horror.

The intoxicated man pulls out a gun, and proceeds to point it at Neji.

"Ima shoot you in the ass you gay! Come back here!"

A shot rings out... Screams start erupting, and chaos ensues.

In the panic, many people start rushing towards the door. Tables get knocked over, and glass breaks on the floor. Since the room isn't overly large, despite the scrambling, it doesn't take long for a majority of the bar's customers to leave the room.

The intoxicated man had fired into the ceiling, disconnecting some wires and causing sparks to fly in the air. A few of the screens blink, a few flicker and die. A few are left, with shots of green golf courses and fan stadiums containing people wearing vibrant red.

As the customers rush out the door, Neji quickly places his tray on the nearest table and bends down behind it. Slowly he proceeds back towards the bar counter with the intention of wrestling the man to the floor. Before he gets there however, he hears a scream coming from the intoxicated foreigner.

Neji looks up from behind a table and sees that the man has been struck in the hand by three darts. Unfortunately however, this man does not drop the gun but merely shakes his hands free of the darts. Blood runs down in rivulets from his hand, but the man appears not to feel the pain at all. Instead, he peers around with eyes narrowed.

"Who threw that? Someone dare mess with Captain Jack huh? I'll shoot YOU and make you an example to all of these other folks in here. Who threw that? I'll murder you!"

Neji knows exactly who threw those darts. He frantically looks over to where he had seen Tenten earlier, but realizes that she is not there.

Suddenly, the gunman is knocked down from behind by a girl wielding a pool stick.

'So that's where she was... When did she_?'

Bang!

Neji suddenly realizes just how dangerous of a position Tenten has put herself in.

The intoxicated man was apparently knocked over, but not knocked out. Neji sees Tenten's body on top of the man. Neji then realizes that she is using a grappling move to hold the man still. Seconds pass by like hours.

Despite his frantic struggles, Tenten's fingers encounter the trigger of the gun. She presses the trigger.

Bang!

The shot whizzes by Neji's head. Neji ducks under the table and then proceeds to get out from behind it, and runs towards the place where the gunman and Tenten are wrestling over the gun.

Bang!

Another shot is fired. This shot almost hits Neji's shoulder.

Bang!

This shot grazes Neji in the leg. His leg begins to bleed from the wound.

Bang!

'How many shots are in that thing!?' Neji wonders.

Bang!

'Tenten!'

Bang!

'No! Oh please God no! Please...'

Finally, Neji arrives and throws a strong kick into the man's head. The man loosens his grip on the gun.

Bang!

Neji realizes that Tenten had been the one who had been firing off the shots. He breathes a sigh of relief... until he notices the pool of blood on the floor.

"Tenten... Tenten?"

'Oh please God... no, no, no... why the hell.'

Tenten shifts a bit, and then proceeds to get up off the floor. She checks for the pulse of the gunman with one hand, the other arm wrapping around herself, keeping her jacket in place. She looks visibly relieved.

"He's dead."

Neji looks at the gunman's body and realizes that apparently quite a few of the shots had hit the gunman during the process of the wrestling match.

Tenten asks Neji for a cellphone.

"I lost mine in that fight earlier."

Neji grabs his cellphone from out of his pocket and hands it to Tenten.

She proceeds to dial 911.

Neji wonders how she has gotten so good at handling herself in the past few years that she is able to handle such a chaotic situation in such a matter of fact fashion.

"Hello. 911, how can I help you?"

"I have a dead man in front of me, and another one wounded. Please dispatch an ambulance and police vehicles immediately to the following location."

Tenten provides a highly detailed address of their location to the person on the other end.

"Madame, are you are a professional of some sort?"

"Not really."

"Then you are one brave girl."

"Not really."

"Are you alright?"

"I don't know."

Neji checks the perimeters and finds that no customers were shot or harmed. He feels rather thankful for that. Then he proceeds to take the phone from Tenten. She doesn't resist this.

"Hello, Neji speaking, I'm the bartender... here at the bar. I was the only one working here tonight."

"No, no there are no other casualties. Yes, there is significant damage to the property. I'm not sure."

Tenten visibly sways in place. She topples over into Neji, unconscious.

"Neji...?"

Neji is too frightened to speak. He feels a dampening from where Tenten's lower body is touching his. He realizes that Tenten may have also been shot. He frantically opens up the jacket, trying to see where she might be bleeding from. Her arm won't budge.

"Neji...?"

"Tenten, let go. I want to check if you're hurt anywhere."

"I'm sorry Neji..."

"I... I think I might have messed up your jacket."

She finally lets go.

There's a large gash on her side, slowly dripping onto the floor. She had been shot, possibly badly.

"Oh God no! Tenten!"

Neji becomes frantic. Placing pressure on the wound, he yells into the phone. She's fainted! Yes. Yes. My girlfriend's been shot... Please, please hurry. Please."

Neji hangs up the phone. He places it back into his pocket. His entire body begins to feel numb. He places his arms around Tenten, and holds her tightly. Sirens are heard in the distance.

The clock turns 3am.

The next day at the hospital. Neji wakes up. There's a knock on the door. Shikamaru walks in, along with Hinata, Kiba and Gai sensei.

Neji sits up quickly, and winces.

Hinata quickly rushes towards him.

"Neji. No, don't do that so quickly. You're still hurt."

Neji ignores Hinata, but instead concentrates his gaze on Shikamaru and Kiba.

"Is she still alive? Please. Tell me the truth. Is Tenten alive?"

Shikamaru hesitates and looks visibly uncomfortable.

Kiba looks very angry, like he's about to break something.

"No... She's not. Is she... Did she...? Please tell me. I NEED to know."

Kiba finally speaks up.

"She's not dead." Neji looks visibly relieved to hear this.

Shikamaru then adds an additional piece to this rejoinder.

"...yet."

Neji begins to look worried.

Gai sees this, and despite himself he feels sort of happy. 'I never thought I'd see the day Neji became this worried over anyone. It's just too bad that this sort of thing had to happen for him to realize the importance of the people he cares about.'

Sakura enters the room. She's wearing a nurse uniform and has a clipboard.

Kakashi enters the room next. He is wearing the Konoha police uniform.

"I'm sorry to bother you at this time Neji, but I need to ask you some questions regarding the shooting last night at the bar."

Neji looks at Kakashi. He realizes that this might be a good person to ask about what's happened to Tenten.

A few questions about address, time of day, dress and attire, physical description of all of the people he could remember serving at the bar, and a few questions about his family and personal legal history and whereabouts prior to when the shooting occurred and any credible witnesses who might be willing to testify in court later and... Kakashi asks a question that shocks Neji to the core.

"I may get in trouble for telling you this Neji, but I feel that you have a right to know. Tenten's injuries are mostly internal. The shot on her side was a fairly minor graze. The most extensive damage comes from..."

A large and awkward silence follows.

"What? What was the damage from? Was she shot in the lungs, the heart... where...?"

"She was gang raped Neji. She was raped fairly brutally. We're not sure of the details yet, but it's been confirmed that there may have been at least 3 men."

Neji suddenly recalls their conversation prior to the bar officially opening up. He remembers what she said, and the way she behaved when he tried to touch her shoulder.

"Now, as a suspect in this, you understand that there will be a lot of questions asked. Personally I think that you had nothing to do with this particular incident, but due to your previous history it is likely that the jury will view you as the most likely suspect for all of this. We are hoping that after Tenten wakes up, she can testify that you were not among the perpetrators. However, we'd like for you to be cooperative in finding out more information on what happened. Would that be okay with you?"

Neji doesn't answer.

"Neji..."

He still doesn't answer.

Sakura touches Kakashi's soldier.

"I'm sorry officer. I'm afraid you will have to leave. The patient needs his rest."

Kakashi sighs. It may be that being only in his 20's he has not had enough experience dealing with these kinds of cases. He realizes now that perhaps it would have been better to question the suspect at a later date.

'Poor kid. I guess I'll come back. I hope this didn't cause him more pain than necessary. The paperwork is due next week though... Damn this world is hell on the young. And too darn miserable for the old. I think maybe I'm not cut out for this line of work. Go back home and think about it later.'

When Kakashi returned home, the television screen is on.

It is playing the same old re-run of the games from the night before.

The stadium is full of people, wearing that vibrant red.

Kakashi curses, more wasted energy and more bills to pay.

Kakashi vows to never support another team that wears so much red.

For some people in this line of duty, even seeing the color is too much.

In some countries, soldiers don't wear vibrant colors. For red is the color of blood.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: I purposefully wrote this so that a person reading it (ideally) will not be able to tell exactly what country the scene takes place. Neji is identified as being "Asian", the gunman is considered a 'foreigner' by Neji. However, culturally all Asians consider people who do not look Asian foreigners and this definition changes depending on what part of Asia you are in. However, bars are a common scene all around the world. Unfortunately, so is rape and tragedy.<p>

I actually utilized my DSM-IV for this piece. Neji suffered from Conduct Disorder in the past but since then due to proper treatment and good prognosis, mostly resolved it. However, he still has residual panic attacks. He has Panic Disorder without Agoraphobia.

Tenten suffers from a host of Disorders as well including a personality disorder.

I've learned how to study Psychology in a funner way. I'm still in the process of writing a fake Hyuuga Neji treatment plan written from the perspective of his high school period. Hopefully I'll be done with this one soon. It shouldn't be illegal for me to post it online considering I made up the character.

Still, tell me if this feels realistic to you. I need to know because I want to make sure that a person reading it gets the impression that the characters are 'like real'. I only looked at symptoms from DSM-IV criteria while writing this, kind of like making up my own fake case study.

Your reviews might help me in my future as a counseling therapist. *bows* Arigatougusaimasu


	2. Bar Untitled in a World Unknown

A girl walks into a bar. She is visibly angry with the world. Her hands are clenched tightly into fists, the doors to the bar had been wrenched open with a show of force. Her hair, in two braids tonight are wild and unkempt. Her gaze around the room is wild and desperate, like a starving tiger who has just lost her prey. A hunching of shoulders, an exhalation of breathe, and all that is left are smoldering embers of a once raging flame. 'He's not here... He left.' her thoughts are as such, and she becomes stricken with a melancholic sense of hopelessness. What is there left to do now except to grab a drink? It is pouring rain outside of the bar and this girl is soaked to her core. 'I feel like a drowned cat,' she thinks to herself. Desperately hoping that nobody really notices her, she quietly slinks over to a bar seat and sits down. Furthest from the door, in a small and lonely looking corner, who would notice a wet and hissing kitten with claws still extended out? There are few patrons at this bar currently. In the distance tables, a middle aged couple sits quietly. Behind the bar counter near the shelves storing the alcohol stands the bartender, a young man in his mid 20's. A shadowy figure in a long black leather jacket sits at the very end of the bar.

Any girl in this situation would not want a gorgeous guy to notice her and comment on her appearance. Tenten's luck today is just that particularly bad.

In her despairing anger that the person she was supposed to meet may in all likelihood have left already, she fails to notice that the empty looking corner she decided to reside herself in, was in actuality not so empty. She takes the next to last bar seat near the end of the long table and leans forward as she casually takes out her hair bands and unbraids her long, straight almost thigh-length locks of brown so dark it's almost black. She is only wearing a thin t-shirt and it is soaked through. The t-shirt is light green and old, from when she was still in middle school. It is slightly too small for her now, but she doesn't have the money to buy a more fitting one. It is early summer, so she felt it unnecessary to wear a jacket. She had forgotten to listen for the weather this morning in her rush to get to work and didn't realize that it would be colder today than the 70 to 80 degree weather of the past few days. Not freezing, but still quite cold, it is 60 almost 50 degrees outside. She shivers and wipes at the water drops on her arms. She plucks at the t-shirt but there is little she can do about how wet it is besides taking it off... She looks around towards the rest of the bar. The couple by now had already left. The bartender looked busy staring out the windows towards the sidewalk. She decides 'Oh, what the heck', and takes the shirt off and proceeds to wring it out quickly. The water falls down onto the bar floor in between her legs. Her bra is also wet. It is thin and doesn't have wires. Her breasts aren't very large, only a B cup, so she never bothered to wear any fancy bras. Those too, are expensive. After she manages to the best of her ability, she quickly puts the t-shirt back on and pulls on it in order to remove wrinkles in the t-shirt from her wringing. It tears a little along a shoulder seam. She is incredibly embarrassed. Looking around, she notices that the bartender had turned his head. Her face turns red, but it is unseen in the dark of the bar. Her jean shorts are also wet, but she decides not to do anything about them. She drapes her hair, which is still dripping water, over her shoulder and places her head down on her arms and proceeds to try to relax and maybe even take a nap.

"You're dripping all over my bag. Could you move over please?"

The girl is startled and looks up, and sees the most gorgeous guy she has ever seen since 4 years ago in high school. No... sad to be honest but he might be even more handsome than Neji... But he is, unfortunately, also just as genius in his ability to piss a girl off, and not knowing when to leave well enough alone.

"Yeah sure pretty boy, I'll move. She gets up off the bar seat, and promptly jumps herself straight into this boy's lap."

"There. I moved over."

Sasuke is stunned for a second. Then... he reacts.

"What are you doing? Get off of me you crazy slut!"

She doesn't slap him for that. She gets off. An uppercut to the jaw, an elbow to the stomach and a solid punch to the crotch leaves one poor boy rolling off the bar seat, and falling to the floor in pain. He didn't see that coming at all. The bartender standing nearby does nothing but laugh. Nobody nearby says a word. Most of the people in this establishment are familiar with Sasuke, and know that he has a tendency to have an attitude that offends most women whose judgments are not immediately blinded by his looks. Nobody ever had the guts to do what this girl has just done however... Perhaps Tenten has better luck today than was previously thought, for if any of Sasuke's diehard groupies had been here at this moment, this would have turned immediately into a catfight. As it were... none of them are here to witness the event of Sasuke getting pounded by a little Asian girl. Instead, two of them show up... now.

Sakura and Ino walk into the bar, and see dear Sasuke lying on the ground in front of a girl who is staring at him like some sort of insect she is has just squashed.

The two girls' reactions to the scene are immediate and dramatic.

"OMG! Sasuke, what happened?!"

He is still in pain. Tenten wonders if one of these girls is his wife or his girlfriend... 'She should teach him better to respect women, and leave the angry ones alone.'

Sasuke is still hunched over but is slowly getting up with help from the girls.

Tenten now has some regrets. "Why does God waste beauty on idiotic men?"

Sakura speaks up, "If you're talking about Sasuke here, he isn't an idiot, he just has some personality issues. He is top of his class at Konoha law."

Tenten's response to this: "Ok, so he might be good at taking tests and doing papers or he's good at kissing up to professors and administrators... still got beat down by a girl."

This statement makes Sasuke visibly cringe. He is angry and upset but doesn't say a thing. However, his eyes look at Tenten with a strange light. Ino speaks up. She looks more angry than Sasuke, and resembles a hissing Canadian goose. Her neck is stretched and her eyes wide in incredulity.

"Sasuke is a black belt in karate! There's no way a little chink like you could beat him in a fair fight. You just got him by surprise that's all."

"First element of martial arts, always be aware. And never underestimate any potential adversary." - Tenten says this like she is quoting from a textbook.

Sakura is next to Sasuke who has just gotten up. She doesn't have the same sense of indignation on Sasuke's behalf that Ino does. She has known him longer than Ino and understands that sometimes Sasuke's attitude can be a little hard to take. She just never had the balls to even attempt to beat him up like this girl had obviously done. Be it by surprise or no, the feat still earns Tenten a token bit of respect from one strawberry-haired medical student. This she thinks and feels but is not willing to say aloud.

Ino is still going on. Sasuke looks uncomfortable and embarrassed at her flamboyant defense of his masculine pride, the act of which is ironically having the opposite effect. It gets worse though, he doesn't even know.

"I dare you to beat Sasuke fairly in anything! I'll bet something big he wouldn't lose to you again!"

Sasuke is silent but contemplative. He is unsure about accepting any such challenge, but his ego is still as such that he believes he would come out the victor in any potential match.

"Oh this could be fun. What are the stakes?" Sakura finally speaks up.

Ino thinks for a few seconds. "If you lose..." At this she pauses and visibly struggles to come up with something. Then her expression brightens, "You have to run down Deathwoods Lane naked yelling I'm a dirty slut! ...all the way down from Uchiha Ave."

The bartender, Sakura and even Sasuke are stunned at this dare. Sakura thinks that it is a bit much. Sasuke starts to think with his other head, and then worries about potential outcomes of such an event. As for Ino and her thoughts... 'What girl in her right mind would agree to such a dare? Run naked down the most dangerous place in Konoha where someone gets shot or raped every night? I'm brilliant aren't I? This girl is going to refuse, and then I'll get to say that Sasuke is better than her. Maybe he'll finally go out with me if he really likes how I'm standing up for him... Oh hot nights here I come!'

Unfortunately for Ino, she doesn't realize that for Tenten, right now she is already a girl at the end of her ropes.

Tenten has been bouncing around foster care her entire life up until this point. She finally managed to land with a decent caregiver by the name of professor Gai at the age of 10, and he agreed to adopt her on the condition that she study hard and one day achieve great things. 'What is your dream?' he had asked. Tenten stated with confidence that she wanted nothing more than to become just like the lady who owns the Konoha hospital. That night when she was four years old, and her whole world crashed and burned, the only thing that kept her hopeful were the tales told to her by the nurses about the Lady Tsunade who currently is the sole proprietor of Konoha hospital.

At the age of 19 after a harrowing high school experience, she finally gets into Konoha University on what she had believed to be an athletic scholarship in archery, only to find out later that while she had been accepted to Konoha U, the scholarship was a scam. There is no scholarship for archery at Konoha U. Not willing to tell her father that she fell for such a low grade scheme, and also not willing to repay his kindness in taking her in by burdening him with the financial catastrophe of paying for such expensive tuition costs, she manages to get in contact with a boy she had shared a foster family with before who apparently goes to Konoha U now. When she got in contact with him, he had stated that he was willing to help her with the cost of tuition... if she was willing to work in the escort business. Tenten, knowing nothing about escort business figured it would be better to take this chance than to immediately refuse. Thus, in her desperation, she agrees. Their planned meeting time was at 6:30 pm at the Fan and Fang Bar and Grill. However, Tenten got held back at her fee for service place of employment today because one of the people she worked with forgot to sign a document. Without the signature, she would not be able to get paid. Without the money, she would no longer be able to stay at the apartment she currently rents in the city and would have to go to a shelter or live on the streets. She is already behind on the rent to such an extent that she feels that any day now could be the last day she has a warm and safe place to stay. Once Tenten found the girl who forgot to sign, this girl then refused to sign the paperwork until she was done on the phone with her boyfriend whom she was having a heated argument with over matters which to Tenten sounded so trivial. After nearly 10 minutes of waiting for their tussle to end so she could leave, Tenten finally decided to say, 'Get off the phone right now or I'll forge your name. Just give me a verbal O.K. and you can go back to breaking up with your asshole. Then I'll tell our supervisor afterwards exactly why our department is liable for being sued for fraud and negligence.' The result of her outburst was a hurried statement of, "I'll call you back." a hastily signed signature, and a "Chill out girl. What got your panties in such a bunch?" By this time, Tenten was already 5 minutes late. It will take her almost half an hour in a traffic jam to arrive at the location only to not be able to find a parking spot. She finally parks slightly father away from her final destination than originally intended and starts to walk towards the bar. A drizzle, then a shower, and then a torrential downpour later... Tenten finally arrives soaked and wet at the Fan and Fang Bar and Grill over 1 hour late.

All her dreams potentially dashed, all her hopes now ashes in the wind... an uncertain future is all that she has ahead of her... She feels that she is doomed whether she takes the dare or not. Might as well take a chance... She accepts the dare.

"Fine. As long as I choose what the game is, I accept your challenge. I will run down the streets of Deathwood Lane, naked, if Sasuke here can beat me in..." She looks around the bar and notices a dart board hanging on the wall. She points to it. "If Sasuke can beat me in darts."

Now, all in the bar are stunned. Ino is now uncertain her idea had been so brilliant after all. She didn't think this girl would agree to the dare. Now she is frantically thinking about a way to back out of the situation, but to no avail.

Sasuke though, has been struck by a lightning feeling of exhilaration. He finds it remarkable that she would agree to such a dare. Now he looks her up and down and wonders what it would be like to see more than the little show he had gotten earlier. He's still not entirely sure that show was unintentional. 'It wouldn't be bad. She's got a decent body. I could enjoy such a thing.' He's pretty confident in his dart skills. It was only last week after finals had just ended that he had managed to defeat all of his friends in a game of darts at a different bar. There had been five people in his group including him. He does not think this girl could possibly beat him at this. To some degrees, he is still thinking with his other head. And indeed, the satisfaction of her humiliation would make it all worth it. Maybe he would have her too, there's no sense in not taking what's available. He'd have her enjoy it too, like all the other women he's ever been with, none of them had ever complained. In fact, they all came to him begging. This girl could be no different, and simply playing hard to get. He likes those types the most.

What he doesn't realize is that that all throughout high school. Tenten's nickname was Aim. Although she never played in sports officially, her skills in basketball, soccer, archery, baseball and kendo were legendary among her classmates. Whatever she aimed for, 9 times out of 10 she would hit it. Her gift of extraordinary accuracy extends to other sports such as pool. If her adoptive father's son, her brother technically, hadn't found out about her going to bars and winning money by gambling at the bars over games of pool and darts... right now her tuition problem might not be so much of a problem. Unfortunately, Lee told Gai and Gai told Tenten that if she wanted to stay with him she was not allowed to gamble.

Because of her job right now she no longer lives with him anyway. So she figures that there's no reason for her not to once again play for money. This time however...

"What do you want then? What are your stakes? How much money are you willing to bet that you even stand a chance at beating me in darts?"

"How about my full college tuition?"

Sasuke's eyes widen, but then he ponders and concedes. It's not like he doesn't have the money after all. He asks her what school she goes to and is doubly surprised to learn that she goes to Konoha U and when asked about her major.

"I'm a Communications Major. I want to be a journalist."

They start the game of darts. The bartender preps the game.

The game ends... Tenten scores 10 out of 10. Each of her darts shoot straight into the center of the board, and with each one impresses Sasuke more and more. He was still slightly buzzed from the alcohol, and distracted by the fact that Tenten's shirt had now dried and shrunk to reveal quite a bit of creamy skin and her jeans that are slightly too big for her had dragged down to reveal a bit of her hip and a small ying-yang tattoo.

In the end, Sasuke loses, hands down no room for argument from even Ino. What no one realizes, even Sasuke himself, is that that day, Sasuke loses something a bit more important than his pride and money. He loses a bit of something he had thought he lost a long time ago. His heart.


	3. Fan and Fang Bar

**Disclaimer: **This is AU, and I don't borrow much besides the names of the characters and certain attributes. Nevertheless, Kishimoto deserves lots of credit for creating such characters and story that provide a lot of inspiration to aspiring writers and manga enthusiasts. And I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in it. Of course, would I be writing fan fiction if I did?

**Author's Note: **I have to thank the people who reviewed the first chapter. Quite a few people mentioned that they thought some Tenten and Sasuke pairing interaction would be interesting. I usually only write NejixTen and am pretty loyal to that pairing, but then thought about it and realized that such only makes writing a SasukexTenten piece more challenging and thus more fun. Figure I'd give it a go. Although in this one, its kind of one-sided, on Sasuke's part at that.

I tried to write in some sexual tension, because it's always interesting. Not sure if I managed to get it across right...

* * *

><p>A girl walks into a bar. She is visibly angry with the world. Her hands are clenched tightly into fists, the doors to the bar had been wrenched open with a show of force. Her hair, in two braids tonight are wild and unkempt. Her gaze around the room is wild and desperate, like a starving tiger who has just lost her prey. A hunching of shoulders, an exhalation of breathe, and all that is left are smoldering embers of a once raging flame. 'He's not here... He left.' her thoughts are as such, and she becomes stricken with a melancholic sense of hopelessness. What is there left to do now except to grab a drink? It is pouring rain outside of the bar and this girl is soaked to her core. 'I feel like a drowned cat,' she thinks to herself. Desperately hoping that nobody really notices her, she quietly slinks over to a bar seat and sits down. Furthest from the door, in a small and lonely looking corner, who would notice a wet and hissing kitten with claws still extended out? There are few patrons at this bar currently. In the distance tables, a middle aged couple sits quietly. Behind the bar counter near the shelves storing the alcohol stands the bartender, a young man in his mid 20's. A shadowy figure in a long black leather jacket sits at the very end of the bar.<p>

Any girl in this situation would not want a gorgeous guy to notice her and comment on her appearance. Tenten's luck today is just that particularly bad.

In her despairing anger that the person she was supposed to meet may in all likelihood have left already, she fails to notice that the empty looking corner she decided to reside herself in, was in actuality not so empty. She takes the next to last bar seat near the end of the long table and leans forward as she casually takes out her hair bands and unbraids her long, straight almost thigh-length locks of brown so dark it's almost black. She is only wearing a thin t-shirt and it is soaked through. The t-shirt is light green and old, from when she was still in middle school. It is slightly too small for her now, but she doesn't have the money to buy a more fitting one. It is early summer, so she felt it unnecessary to wear a jacket. She had forgotten to listen for the weather this morning in her rush to get to work and didn't realize that it would be colder today than the 70 to 80 degree weather of the past few days. Not freezing, but still quite cold, it is 60 almost 50 degrees outside. She shivers and wipes at the water drops on her arms. She plucks at the t-shirt but there is little she can do about how wet it is besides taking it off... She looks around towards the rest of the bar. The couple by now had already left. The bartender looked busy staring out the windows towards the sidewalk. She decides 'Oh, what the heck', and takes the shirt off and proceeds to wring it out quickly. The water falls down onto the bar floor in between her legs. Her bra is also wet. It is thin and doesn't have wires. Her breasts aren't very large, only a B cup, so she never bothered to wear any fancy bras. Those too, are expensive. After she manages to the best of her ability, she quickly puts the t-shirt back on and pulls on it in order to remove wrinkles in the t-shirt from her wringing. It tears a little along a shoulder seam. She is incredibly embarrassed. Looking around, she notices that the bartender had turned his head. Her face turns red, but it is unseen in the dark of the bar. Her jean shorts are also wet, but she decides not to do anything about them. She drapes her hair, which is still dripping water, over her shoulder and places her head down on her arms and proceeds to try to relax and maybe even take a nap.

"You're dripping all over my bag. Could you move over please?"

The girl is startled and looks up, and sees the most gorgeous guy she has ever seen since 4 years ago in high school. No... sad to be honest but he might be even more handsome than Neji... But he is, unfortunately, also just as genius in his ability to piss a girl off, and not knowing when to leave well enough alone.

"Yeah sure pretty boy, I'll move. She gets up off the bar seat, and promptly jumps herself straight into this boy's lap."

"There. I moved over."

Sasuke is stunned for a second. Then... he reacts.

"What are you doing? Get off of me you crazy slut!"

She doesn't slap him for that. She gets off. An uppercut to the jaw, an elbow to the stomach and a solid punch to the crotch leaves one poor boy rolling off the bar seat, and falling to the floor in pain. He didn't see that coming at all. The bartender standing nearby does nothing but laugh. Nobody nearby says a word. Most of the people in this establishment are familiar with Sasuke, and know that he has a tendency to have an attitude that offends most women whose judgments are not immediately blinded by his looks. Nobody ever had the guts to do what this girl has just done however... Perhaps Tenten has better luck today than was previously thought, for if any of Sasuke's diehard groupies had been here at this moment, this would have turned immediately into a catfight. As it were... none of them are here to witness the event of Sasuke getting pounded by a little Asian girl. Instead, two of them show up... now.

Sakura and Ino walk into the bar, and see dear Sasuke lying on the ground in front of a girl who is staring at him like some sort of insect she has just squashed.

The two girls' reactions to the scene are immediate and dramatic.

"OMG! Sasuke, what happened?"

He is still in pain. Tenten wonders if one of these girls happen to be his wife or girlfriend... 'She should teach him to respect women better, and leave the angry ones alone.'

Sasuke is still hunched over but is slowly getting up with help from the girls.

Tenten now has some regrets. "Why does God waste beauty on idiotic men?"

Sakura speaks up, "If you're talking about Sasuke here, he isn't an idiot, he just has some personality issues. He is top of his class at Konoha law."

Tenten's response to this: "Ok, so he might be good at taking tests and doing papers or he's good at kissing up to professors and administrators... still got beat down by a girl."

This statement makes Sasuke visibly cringe. He is angry and upset but doesn't say a thing. However, his eyes look at Tenten with a strange light. Ino speaks up. She looks more angry than Sasuke, and resembles a hissing Canadian goose. Her neck is stretched and her eyes wide in incredulity.

"Sasuke is a black belt in karate! There's no way a little chink like you could beat him in a fair fight. You just got him by surprise that's all."

"First element of martial arts, always be aware. And never underestimate any potential adversary." - Tenten says this like she is quoting from a textbook.

Sakura is next to Sasuke who has just gotten up. She doesn't have the same sense of indignation on Sasuke's behalf as Ino does. She has known him for longer than Ino and understands that sometimes Sasuke's attitude can be a little hard to take. She just never had the balls to even attempt to beat him up like this girl had obviously done. Be it by surprise or no, the feat still earns Tenten a token bit of respect from one strawberry-haired medical student. This she thinks and feels but is not willing to say aloud.

Ino is still going on. Sasuke looks uncomfortable and embarrassed at her flamboyant defense of his masculine pride, the act of which is ironically having the opposite effect. It gets worse though, he doesn't even know.

"I dare you to beat Sasuke fairly in anything! I'll bet something big he wouldn't lose to you again!"

Sasuke is silent but contemplative. He is unsure about accepting any such challenge, but his ego is still as such that he believes he would come out the victor in any potential match.

"Oh this could be fun. What are the stakes?" Sakura finally speaks up.

Ino thinks for a few seconds. "If you lose..." At this she pauses and visibly struggles to come up with something. Then her expression brightens, "You have to run down Deathwoods Lane naked yelling I'm a dirty slut! ...all the way down from Uchiha Ave."

The bartender, Sakura and even Sasuke are stunned at this dare. Sakura thinks that it is a bit much. Sasuke starts to think with his other head, and then worries about potential outcomes of such an event. As for Ino and her thoughts... 'What girl in her right mind would agree to such a dare? Run naked down the most dangerous place in Konoha where someone gets shot or raped every night? I'm brilliant aren't I? This girl is going to refuse, and then I'll get to say that Sasuke is better than her. Maybe he'll finally go out with me if he really likes how I'm standing up for him... Oh hot nights here I come!'

Unfortunately for Ino, she doesn't realize that for Tenten, right now she is already a girl at the end of her ropes.

Tenten has been bouncing around foster care her entire life up until this point. She finally managed to land with a decent caregiver by the name of professor Gai at the age of 10, and he agreed to adopt her on the condition that she study hard and one day achieve great things. 'What is your dream?' he had asked. Tenten stated with confidence that she wanted nothing more than to become just like the lady who owns the Konoha hospital. That night when she was four years old, and her whole world crashed and burned, the only thing that kept her hopeful were the tales told to her by the nurses about the Lady Tsunade who currently is the sole proprietor of Konoha hospital.

At the age of 19 after a harrowing high school experience, she finally gets into Konoha University on what she had believed to be an athletic scholarship in archery, only to find out later that while she had been accepted to Konoha U, the scholarship was a scam. There is no scholarship for archery at Konoha U. Not willing to tell her father that she fell for such a low grade scheme, and also not willing to repay his kindness in taking her in by burdening him with the financial catastrophe of paying for such expensive tuition costs, she manages to get in contact with a boy she had shared a foster family with before who apparently goes to Konoha U now. When she got in contact with him, he had stated that he was willing to help her with the cost of tuition... if she was willing to work in the escort business. Tenten, knowing nothing about escort business figured it would be better to take this chance than to immediately refuse. Thus, in her desperation, she agrees. Their planned meeting time was at 6:30 pm at the Fan and Fang Bar and Grill. However, Tenten got held back at her fee for service place of employment today because one of the people she worked with forgot to sign a document. Without the signature, she would not be able to get paid. Without the money, she would no longer be able to stay at the apartment she currently rents in the city and would have to go to a shelter or live on the streets. She is already behind on the rent to such an extent that she feels that any day now could be the last day she has a warm and safe place to stay. Once Tenten found the girl who forgot to sign, this girl then refused to sign the paperwork until she was done on the phone with her boyfriend whom she was having a heated argument with over matters which to Tenten sounded so trivial. After nearly 10 minutes of waiting for their tussle to end so she could leave, Tenten finally decided to say, 'Get off the phone right now or I'll forge your name. Just give me a verbal O.K. and you can go back to breaking up with your asshole. Then I'll tell our supervisor afterwards exactly why our department is liable for being sued for fraud and negligence.' The result of her outburst was a hurried statement of, "I'll call you back." a hastily signed signature, and a "Chill out girl. What got your panties in such a bunch?" By this time, Tenten was already 5 minutes late. It will take her almost half an hour in a traffic jam to arrive at the location only to not be able to find a parking spot. She finally parks slightly father away from her final destination than originally intended and starts to walk towards the bar. A drizzle, then a shower, and then a torrential downpour later... Tenten finally arrives soaked and wet at the Fan and Fang Bar and Grill over 1 hour late.

All her dreams potentially dashed, all her hopes now ashes in the wind... an uncertain future is all that she has ahead of her... She feels that she is doomed whether she takes the dare or not. Might as well take a chance... She accepts the dare.

"Fine. As long as I choose what the game is, I accept your challenge. I will run down the streets of Deathwood Lane, naked, if Sasuke here can beat me in..." She looks around the bar and notices a dart board hanging on the wall. She points to it. "If Sasuke can beat me in darts."

Now, all in the bar are stunned. Ino is now uncertain her idea had been so brilliant after all. She didn't think this girl would agree to the dare. Now she is frantically thinking about a way to back out of the situation, but to no avail.

Sasuke though, has been struck by a lightning feeling of exhilaration. He finds it remarkable that she would agree to such a dare. Now he looks her up and down and wonders what it would be like to see more than the little show he had gotten earlier. He's still not entirely sure that show was unintentional. 'It wouldn't be bad. She's got a decent body. I could enjoy such a thing.' He's pretty confident in his dart skills. It was only last week after finals had just ended that he had managed to defeat all of his friends in a game of darts at a different bar. There had been five people in his group including him. He does not think this girl could possibly beat him at this. To some degrees, he is still thinking with his other head. And indeed, the satisfaction of her humiliation would make it all worth it. Maybe he would have her too, there's no sense in not taking what's available. He'd have her enjoy it too, like all the other women he's ever been with, none of them had ever complained. In fact, they all came to him begging. This girl could be no different, and simply playing hard to get. He likes those types the most.

What he doesn't realize is that that all throughout high school. Tenten's nickname was Aim. Although she never played in sports officially, her skills in basketball, soccer, archery, baseball and kendo were legendary among her classmates. Whatever she aimed for, 9 times out of 10 she would hit it. Her gift of extraordinary accuracy extends to other sports such as pool. If her adoptive father's son, her brother technically, hadn't found out about her going to bars and winning money by gambling at the bars over games of pool and darts... right now her tuition problem might not be so much of a problem. Unfortunately, Lee told Gai and Gai told Tenten that if she wanted to stay with him she was not allowed to gamble.

Because of her job right now she no longer lives with him anyway. So she figures that there's no reason for her not to once again play for money. This time however...

"What do you want then? What are your stakes? How much money are you willing to bet that you even stand a chance at beating me in darts?"

"How about my full college tuition?"

Sasuke's eyes widen, but then he ponders and concedes. It's not like he doesn't have the money after all. He asks her what school she goes to and is doubly surprised to learn that she goes to Konoha U and when asked about her major.

"I'm a Communications Major. I want to be a journalist."

They start the game of darts. The bartender preps the game.

The game ends... Tenten scores 10 out of 10. Each of her darts shoot straight into the center of the board, and with each one impresses Sasuke more and more. He was still slightly buzzed from the alcohol, and distracted by the fact that Tenten's shirt had now dried and shrunk to reveal quite a bit of creamy skin and her jeans that are slightly too big for her had dragged down to reveal a bit of her hip and a small ying-yang tattoo.

In the end, Sasuke loses, hands down no room for argument from even Ino. What no one realizes, even Sasuke himself, is that that day, Sasuke loses something a bit more important than his pride and money. He loses a bit of something he had thought he lost a long time ago, to a cheeky girl with the audacity to hit him where it hurts.

A few nights later he is lying in bed and almost thinks he still feels it... there. And it kind of turns him on in a strangely disturbing fashion. He wonders ruefully if he is a masochist. But still... It's just a shame he wasn't able to watch her run naked down a street. Maybe someday... but only for him.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I'm not sure if the rating for this chapter is T or M. I'll put M just to be safe but... Ah, whatever. Please review, if you feel like it. Otherwise, just read it. I accept flames, they're actually more useful in some ways. I usually don't go back and change things too often, cause I'm lazy, but I think about comments and try to improve on my writings in the future. I'm also trying to write more, partially because I just feel like it and also partially because I want to get better at this. Anyways. Thanks for reading.


	4. The Kaisei Ruroni

**Disclaimer: **The scenes and events in this story are purely fictional and are based off of any people in real life. The format of the treatment plan is highly generic and doesn't even contain all of the necessary information needed for one. I have no idea how the California foster-care system works either... I did live in Los Angeles area at one point in my life, but that was when I was 4 years old. I do go to a lot of different restaurants and forums, and sort of eavesdrop on conversations. None of the characters here are based off of any specific person though... well, they are based off of their namesake characters. **I don't own Neji or Tenten or Jiraiya or Shikamaru. Their character's creation originated with one Masashi Kishimoto...** _who is so mighty some might suitably consider this man some form of Kami amongst us mere mortals._ I did come up with the name of the bar... I looked up some random Japanese kanji, and to be honest I don't know if it actually means what I think it means. It's supposed to mean: Fire Born Wandering Samurai. The reason I know about keylogging is because I got hacked by Brits on Runscape before and managed to figure out how they hacked me. I've never hacked anyone, and never will. So, don't try to key-log your school's password for secret information just because you read this and thought it might be cool to try out... you might wind up disappointed and in trouble... or get a virus/trojan or something you don't in any way shape or form want.

I don't think anyone has ever written about a scenario where Tenten is foster sibling to Shikamaru... this might be an original idea of mine... please tell me if you find anywhere else this is written. I would want to check it out.

I do remember reading a fictional piece before where Tenten is adopted by Neji's family. I forget what the name was though... I definitely remember liking the piece, but apparently I forgot to put it in my favorites. If anyone could help me find it, I'd be grateful for the help.

Oh, and I've decided to stop switching chapter order and just admit that this entire thing won't be chronologically ordered.

Pretty much a series of one-shots that are interconnected and all start out with a girl walking into a bar.

Recently updated this, as well as posting another chapter. Long delay, didn't have a lot of reviews so felt that maybe nobody was really interested. Then I saw like 470 views and thought, meh.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the next chapter of story.

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><p><strong>A Girl Walks Into A Bar<strong>

A girl walks into a bar holding a piece of paper. It is autumn. The summer has just begun to fade away, along with the aggressive heat that has swept across the nation like some kind of raging phoenix. One girl is alone today. She is alone because she chooses to be. For this event, she has to be.

'The secrecy of my actions today are really life and death. Hyuuga Neji can_not _find out I've read his file. If Nara outs me, my life might really be forfeit. Hyuuga doesn't play games with his privacy. I'm not sure a basketball or ping-pong duel would settle this one, even if I am a girl. For such a macho, domineering male, he rarely pulls his punches when battling with the opposite gender... not when he respects them. I don't want to lose that respect... but for this, I need to know. Nara, you better have covered your tracks. I don't want to die just because I honestly didn't think you could hack into the school's computer files that easily...'

The document, the piece of paper in question, is none other than the treatment plan of THE Hyuuga. Some in school call him death incarnate. The meanest, toughest, and roughest boy of Konoha High that had ever graced the halls of the school. From personal experience, Tenten knows that this might be a bit of an exaggeration.

'He's honestly not as bad as they all say he is. A bully maybe... but definitely not evil incarnate... I think. I need to read his file before I decide whether or not to agree to the school's proposal. I know that the school says that this information is confidential... But they want me to spend so much time with him that it's practically like living with him. I certainly don't want to wind up murdered or killed. This is justified. I'm not doing anything wrong. I can't give the school my agreement without understanding the situation. For this, I have every right to know.'

Tenten would have chosen a more private location, but in this part of town there aren't really any places like that truly available to the public. This particular bar just looked so dingy and rundown and unattended upon first glance that in an instance she made up her mind. Tenten decided, that for this day, for this moment in her life, Kasei Ruroni Bar would be where she completes her perfect crime. All the dark secrets of one Hyuuga Neji, contained in this one document, on this one page. Well, maybe not all, but hopefully just enough.

'Shikamaru. I owe you one.'

Her expression is intense. She stares at the piece of paper in her hands as though some mystery of life could be figured out from the black and white on the page. She focuses her gaze, the look of concentration, the posture of purpose and intent radiates from her like a firestorm.

This is all seen by the bartender, who had previously been napping in the backroom.

'Nobody ever comes in at this hour anyway. Damn, I must have forgotten to lock the God damned door. Now there's a customer... oh, well, it might be a customer. A customer! But no... the girl looks like she's busy with her homework. She looks way too young for a beer. I could get in trouble for this... but nah. I guess I'll just leave her alone. She looks like she ought to be in school doing that though... Meh, those cyber schools these days. Whatever. I'll just go back to my nap.'

'It's kind of sad... Only in this part of town, would a teenager need to use an empty bar for a homework assignment. But then again, what the heck would an old man like me know? I'm too awake for a nap now. I guess I'll go back to writing more of that Icha Icha novel again. I hope this thing actually gets published. Then I'll never have to do this kind of job again.'

Tenten loses focus on the words briefly. Her eyes are wide. She stares at the corner of the page. The black and white there are the swirls of a ying-yang. This ancient symbol, supposedly implying harmony, balance and peace in all things. In this moment though... Tenten does not feel so peaceful. She feels... Devastated. Regret. Guilt. Anguish... Angry. Anger directed internally at herself. Anger at words spoken in anger. Anger at the boy for being forced by society to feel like he can never speak about his pain. Anger at society for creating situations such as these. Anger at humans who can be so cruel as to... Anger at herself... for actions made without knowing. Anger... at her own judgmental nature... Although in truth, it's human. But for this instance, she feels as though she cannot forgive herself for her humanity.

'Why are humans so cruel?'

'Neji... Oh... Oh God... I'm so sorry...'

Her emotions are like the colors outside. Her feelings are like the cars passing by.

Autumn is the time of falling leaves. They have just begun to turn. Those angry shades of red, yellow and purple flash across the sky as cars speed down the road. The window of the bar is dingy and gray, but it doesn't remove the harshness of the deep black asphalt that never gives way... except when it cracks under the intense heat of summer. Yet, summer is slowly but surely fading away. Cool and breezy, the wind brushes the leaves of the trees outside of the bar.

Tenten looks outside, and sees all this. Watching the trees sway brings her more peace than the symbol at the corner of the page. She looks back at the symbol now, and feels more calm. The words on the page however, they do not change.

Life is harsh and cruel. Growing up in the foster care system, Tenten thought she knew this well. Bouncing around from place to place, never having a real place to call home or even a last name... To some extent, because she never had to truly suffer the kinds of abuse she's heard about from media and news concerning people in her situation, she never truly realized this one simple fact. That she has always been a lucky one.

For her, being a foster child has always been more... just a part of life. She had never felt particularly grateful to people like the Naras until this moment... She had never realized just how much she owed to them for preventing her from turning into someone just like Neji.

How horrible right?

She has never realized... her own luck. Her own carefree existence... and the shame of it all that she never was grateful. Always complaining about everything... when people like Neji has had to suffer through things no 12 year old should ever have to.

'And I thought I had it bad. I suppose I always kind of knew other people in my position had it worse... Always tuned it out. Never bothered to worry about it... now I'm faced with this boy who has obviously been trying to seek help. Or at least... I think that was what he was doing. He might still be a complete bastard though. ...Should I really bet my life on this idea that he's not a complete asshole after all and only a victim of circumstance? Should I forgive him for the past and try to help him?'

The Naras are Buddhist. They claim that the reason why they decided to become foster parents.. was to honor Kami and show gratitude for all of the things they have in their life. To truly appreciate the meaning of life, was to give back to life itself. Till this moment, she never realized what that statement meant... or rather thought it was a bunch of bullshit religious crap. Still... perhaps...

It takes such awakenings, to help Tenten realize the things in her life she's always taken so much for granted.

For Gai sensei, who at the time they first met was a social worker was so enthusiastic. At that time, he had been working as a behavioral specialist and she was one of his clients. Gai had, and still has, such an intense personality. Sadly, this intense dedication to his job eventually lost him that job due to scuffles with the administration of the agency he worked for over practices he viewed as being 'unjust' and contrary to his fervent idealism. However, due to his strong-willed dedication to her case, she felt that she was never abused or mistreated. She felt in honesty that she would always have someone willing to stand up for her cause, even at the expense of his own. That to her was more valuable than anything... because it gave her the courage to always keep fighting for herself.

Growing up in a world where the spirit of heroism is placed in the highest regard, that man had been her hero. She always thought that he was an idiot. She never understood until this moment, just how crucial it was... that everyday heroism.

The greatest shame that Tenten feels, in this moment of realization, is that it had to take reading something like this to make her realize how lucky she has always been.

Today, Gai Maito is a teacher at Tenten's high school, Konoha High. He's also a karate instructor, and has an adopted son named Lee who at one time had been Tenten's foster sibling.

Tenten, Lee and just recently, Hyuuga Neji had recently started taking lessons at a small run down dojo in the city. It's not much, but for whatever it's worth, they had decided to start up a martial arts club. Over the last few weeks, Tenten has struggled to figure out why Neji attended the meetings at all. He is already a master at several forms of Chinese martial arts due to, apparently, lessons his uncle forced him to take as a member of the Hyuuga family upon adoption. Constantly bashing Lee and beating him up and insulting Gai for his mannerisms... that was Neji. That, and inviting along random thugs who deal various drugs right outside the door of the dojo. None of it made sense to Tenten... and being the outspoken girl she has always been, she confronted him about it recently.

Gai said not to say anything, but to Tenten, those drug dealers were preventing their school from accepting the applications for making the Karate club a legitimate extra-curricular activity accepted by the administration. They didn't state this to her... but with her highly sensitive hearing, she overheard the conversations of the staff. Then, she confronted Neji.

Tenten remembered how strange it was, that he reacted so badly when she stated that it would be horrible if one of the drug dealers decided to start a turf war near the dojo, and how Gai and Lee and her might all get killed. She didn't understand at the time why he reacted in such a way.

But now...

'I guess... in a way, I guess I understand. Without Gai sensei and how much he fought for me, for us, I could be just like him. It's scary... It's really scary... I wish there was something I could do to help. I feel like I have to help... because I was one of the lucky ones.'

To some extent, Tenten supposes, she has always realized this. It's just that she unconsciously, perhaps intentionally, turned off that part of herself that was aware. Turned off awareness of the possibilities that children could be abused by those entrusted with their safety and health. Turned off the sounds that might have indicated something was going wrong next door. At the age of 12, the remarkable ability to block out all sounds, voices and irrelevant things had already been ingrained in her... for the pure necessity of survival. As humans we are able to do this... Tenten was able to do this... because without such an ability, reality is so cruel... Without such an ability... life would become absurdly chaotic. Life could potentially become unbearable. And so... the ability to turn off the world... is a blessing, and a curse.

Seeing the words, those black and white symbols she has just read on the page, and coming to terms with the full force of the reality of it all... Tenten feels her reality shattering into a million pieces.

A glass of ice water clinks down next to her. The chunks of ice bang around the sides of the glass... the crystal clearness and coldness make the outside of the glass a sheen of watery mess.

"Kid, what kind of sob story they making you read in school? Stop doing that homework and drink this glass of water. Too much education makes your brain explode you know?"

Tenten blinks harshly, and rubs her eyes.

'God, I'm out of it. I didn't even notice him.'

"Thank you. Umm... maybe I should get going. I... I didn't bring any money. I forgot."

" Don't worry about it kid. You just keep studying like a good kid. I wish my grandson was as studious as you. He's an ungrateful little brat though."

"Ungrateful... huh. Aren't we all?"

"Yeah. I suppose... Pretty deep words for someone so young though. Are you sure you're not over 50 like me?"

Tenten grins. The bartender grins back, and then returns to writing in the notebook he has with him.

"If you hear the door clinking and the manager comes in, tell him that you're my niece and I'm helping you with your homework okay?"

Tenten smirks, "Sure old man. I'll lie for ya."

"Thanks, much appreciated."

Tenten looks to the glass of water and sighs.

'Neji... What am I going to do with you now? Should I accept the school's proposal? Even knowing all that I know about you now... with this thing in front of me... I still think you're a complete jerk. I still think that involving myself with you is dangerous. I still... Ungrateful. I feel like such a brat.'

Prior to this day, Tenten felt like maybe she hated Hyuuga Neji. Maybe it was justified at the time that she said those things... But, even right before she read all of this, she felt justified in refusing to deal with his problems. She felt like Neji was not someone who was worthy of her time because of all his harsh words, his behaviors towards Lee, his antagonism that she always attributed to him being rich and smart and 'a preppy snob'.

However, after what she has read today... she can't help but feel incredibly guilty and sad that she was not able to... to... to do _something. Something _more. After all, from what this thing appears to imply... Tenten realizes that for all of Neji's fanboys and fangirls and people who appear to hang out with him... most of them probably never gave a damn about his problems. Most of them probably never cared to ask why he behaved the way he behaved. Most people just felt scared of him.

That day in school when he took her aside and... asked her if she was willing to hang out with him outside of class... It must have taken him so much courage just to try and ask her that question. She blatantly refused him, and insulted him for even bothering to ask.

Now, after reading this, she realizes that perhaps at the time he felt like she was the only person he could consider even remotely as a friend.

Never in her life, had she ever realized it so clearly... that fame and money cannot buy a person happiness.

'I just hope he never discovers how I found these things out. He would kill me. I would kill me if I were him. I need to destroy this paper somehow. I need to make sure Shikamaru doesn't tell anybody. I need to... God, what have I done!? Now I know why those psychology people say this stuff is confidential. I shouldn't have asked Shikamaru to hack into Neji's files. I'm... I'm... Oh God...'

'Neji... please... if you find out Shikamaru hacked into your files... I don't even care if you kill me now. Just please don't do anything stupid to yourself. God...'

"Kid... you're crying way too much. Are high school homework assignments really that hard these days? I'll give you a free beer... on the house!"

The old bartender appeared so flustered at her crying... so confused.

Tenten looks up at his face full of abject horror at the sight of her tears.

The ridiculousness of the situation is just too much. Tenten's tears become laughter... whacked out laughter that just makes Tenten laugh more at the further terror of the bartender.

'He probably thinks I've gone crazy... and over _homework_ of all things.'

"There. Uh.. Here yah go. No crying okay? Free beer on old Jiraiya here. No need to cry."

Tenten's laughter stops. She stops herself from her hysterics and decides to drink the beer.

In the next second, she makes a firm decision.

'I guess, like Neji says, I suppose... this is fate. There's nothing else I can do. I will accept the school's proposal. I will become adopted by the Hyuugas. If I die... well, I guess that's life. Nothing worth fighting for is ever easy. And my goal... is to save Neji's soul! Oh, gosh that sounds so cheesy. I want to puke at myself for even thinking of such a crappy line.'

More hysterical laughter bursts out from Tenten, making the bartender jump.

'Next time I'm definitely locking that door during closing hours. Then crazy people won't be coming in here bothering me while I'm writing. ...teenagers these days. She didn't even drink anything yet either. I sure hope she's not on drugs.'

The sky outside has turned slightly dark. The horizon in the distance is that of the setting sun.

Laughing, grinning, and watching this sky. Tenten feels like perhaps the world can change for the better... and perhaps, just perhaps, she could be an instrument for this positive change. Thus, she sat there and finished the beer... and then left the bar. Walking back to the Nara's apartments, Tenten feels a sense of pride in herself. She feels the kind of feeling that is indescribable and peaceful... this strange sense of peace is all that she feels, even as she is opening the door to the apartment complex, even as she is walking up the stairs. From the apartment room she has been living in up until now, she gazes out at the sky. Her decision remains unwavering and she feels a sense of purpose... even as the sun is falling from the sky... Tenten feels at peace with herself.

The color of the fading sun, and the burning leaves of autumn... the ying-yang symbol. All of these symbols converge within her dreams... in the image of a phoenix rising from the forest and gliding through the trees. The roar of the flames, the scent of burning wood... all of these things she experiences... and then she forgets.

The next day comes. She wakes up to see the dawn.

**Konoha Mental Health for Youth and Teens**

**Enhanced Mental Health Services**

**Treatment Plan**

**Child: Hyuuga Neji**

**DOB: 7/03/07**

**DIAGNOSIS:**

**AXIS I: **309.81Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

300.01 Panic Disorder without Agoraphobia

313.89 Conduct Disorder

305.50 Opioid Abuse

305.20 Cannabis Abuse

**AXIS II: **799.9 Deferred

**AXIS III: **Early malnutrition

**AXIS IV: **Psychological stressors: Severe –both Guardians died at early age, suffered emotional and sexual abuse from foster parents, was later adopted by an American family who were supportive but overly controlling. Adoptive family was killed during a shooting in downtown area. Currently adopted by uncle who is his guardian. He has had a consistently turbulent relationship with legal guardian, has shown aggressive maladaptive behavior towards peers in the school setting and received several suspensions due to both reckless behaviors and drug use.

**AXIS V: GAF: Current = 41; Highest past year = 41**

**IDENTIFYING INFORMATION: **

Hyuuga Neji is a 12 year old American born Japanese, who was officially adopted by his uncle from a Los Angeles based agency two years ago. Neji presents with some behavioral difficulties including but not limited to excessive use of opioids and cannabis, destruction of objects both at home and in school settings, theft of other students' personal possessions, and verbal and physical abuse of classmates in community and school settings.

**STRENGTHS: (Include Objective Behavioral Strengths with Regard to Coping Skills, Life Skills, Recreation/Leisure, Family, Educational/Vocational)**

Neji enjoys calligraphy, painting and music. He plays several instruments including piano, violin, guitar, bass and drums. Neji is highly intelligent, and is top of his class for academics and sports. He is captain of both the basketball team and the soccer team. He reports joining the Asian martial arts club recently and shows potential for establishing some positive relationships in this setting.

**NATURAL SUPPORTS:**

Neji's uncle is very supportive of him financially

Neji currently lives with his two female cousins in the same household, and enjoys going to movies, sporting events and concerts with them.

Neji's family is highly involved with activities in both the Chinese and Japanese-American communities

**NEEDS/BEHAVIOR TARGETS: (Include Objective Behavioral Needs with Regard to Coping Skills, Life Skills, Recreation/Leisure, Family/ Educational/Vocational)**

Neji presents with significant emotional and behavioral difficulties that include Conduct disorder, opioid abuse, cannabis abuse, Panic Disorder without Agoraphobia and PTSD.

Exhibits aggressive behaviors towards peers he perceives as weaker than him

Difficulty interacting with others appropriately

Neji also exhibits defiant and destructive behaviors

Neji has food anxiety and becomes aggressive if someone touches his food.

Neji does not allow others to touch him and becomes aggressive with others even for gentle taps on the shoulder

**CHALLENGES TO TREATMENT (Stressors):**

Lack of sufficient information about his past and vital data relating to birth and early life development.

Inability to develop appropriate peer relationships due to issues of trust and respect

Negative peer influence due to involvement in recreational drug use

Low level of parental guidance at home due to uncle's frequent business trips

**NEED/BEHAVIOR TARGET 1: **

When placed in groups during classroom activities, Neji will often ignore other group members and complete assignments on his own without consulting them or acknowledging them.

**1 LONG TERM GOAL:** Target Dates: 3/15/20

Neji will increase his ability to respect and cooperate with peers appropriately during group activities in academic settings.

**1 SHORT-TERM GOAL AND TARGET DATE:**9/25/19 – 2/17/20

Neji will improve on his ability to initiate interaction appropriately with at least one classmate during a structuralized group activity.

**INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES: **

STSS will use accountability and responsibility strategies to teach Neji through the use of role-play and cognitive-behavioral techniques to reinforce the principles of respect and cooperation with peers during group activities.

STSS will teach Neji how to respect other's thoughts and opinions during group activities in academic setting.

STSS will help Neji increase his ability to trust others for group academic projects

STSS will use Rehearsal, Role-Play and Social-Story Telling Therapy which is designed to help improve his behavior

**ANTECEDENT STRATEGIES:**

BHRS team and Guardian will observe client's triggers that could possibly indicate the presence of avoidance tactics.

**BEHAVIORAL TEACHING STRATEGIES;**

STSS will continue to work 1:1 with Neji to assist him in learning how to engage and communicate during a group activity in appropriate manner.

**REINFORCEMENT STRATEGIES:**

STSS/Guardian will openly praise Neji (including backward praise) each time he demonstrates appropriate behavior of cooperation and respect of peers.

BSC/STSS will assist legal guardian in identifying an age-appropriate reward system, including allowance, increased privileges, and material items not affiliated with drug use habit

Guardian will practice with Neji appropriate cooperative behavior at home by monitoring his interactions with his cousins in similar group dynamic situations.

**CONSEQUENCE STRATEGIES:**

BSC/STSS/Guardian will remove from Neji's personal possession, desired objects such as video games, books, movies, extra privileges...etc, if he utilizes avoidance tactics persistently despite 3 clear warnings. Each time Neji gets a consequence for uncooperative behavior; he will receive clear evidence and reason for loss of the desired item or object.

**EXPECTED OUTCOME:**

Neji will demonstrate improved skills in cooperation, communication, and respect for others as well as ability to work in groups appropriately when assigned by a teacher.

**PROGRESS TO DATE: **

**Assessment Summary: **

From the data as shown in graph 1 along with testimony from the Guardian, it is evident that Neji showed significant regression in the absence of TSS for 5 weeks in June-July. Incident report includes details about a group activity for English class, where instead of cooperating with a male classmate assigned to work with him on the project, he instead verbally abused him throughout the class session and later during lunch hours engaged this same peer in a physical confrontation. This resulted in a 2 week suspension and 2 weeks' worth of detention. Neji claims that this classmate was "too stupid" to be in class and should have been made to attend a lower level class instead of "making a fool of himself" by "trying too hard to seem smart". Later questioning and reports confirm that during the class session, Neji would not allow this peer to help with the project in any way. The other classmate in his group, a female peer was only allowed to help in simple ways such as handing him scissors, paper and colored pencils.

During sessions with his TSS, Neji would verbally abuse STSS. In order to cut class, he would often mislead his TSS and use excessive evasion strategies. Sometimes these tactics caused TSS to be placed in dangerous situations. During one such incident, he was later found in an empty classroom with a few classmates smoking "Gong". When asked to leave the room by STSS, he proceeded to verbally abuse her and suggested to the other classmates in the room that they might be able to get away with violating her sexually. The TSS reported his behavior to school authorities, and he received a 3 week suspension and detention for the rest of the school year.

A call was made to the household, however his uncle was not available due to business trip and servants at the household were mandated to maintain silence on events within the home setting. Due to compounded suspensions he remained at home for 5 weeks. In this time, TSS requested for termination of case.

Neji continues to struggle with his goal and regressed during the absence of the TSS. As new staff was being appropriated for the case, Neji exhibited clear signs of depression but not to clinical level. During this period he tried a different recreational drug, and wound up passing out naked in the yard of the Hyuuga residence and was discovered by one of his female cousins in this state. Efforts to remove extra-curricular activities privileges resulted in him stealing one of his uncle's cars and crashing it into a tree. These behaviors were not evident in the past. He received hospitalization treatment for potentially trying to end his life. Neji denies any suicide attempts but later questioning of family members and household servants lead to conclusion that he may have already attempted suicide several times in the past.

**Change Reported: **Regression

E-mail:

From: CloudSageStag

To: MistressofDarts

Tenten. I've read the file on Neji. Sorry, I just couldn't resist. As much as I'd like to advise you not to associate with him further, because the kid is seriously messed up... I know that you won't listen to me. So, here's the deal. I'm going to erase what I have here, and also erase any trace that I've ever seen this document in my life. However, that doesn't erase the fact that I now know something about the Hyuuga that most people at school probably couldn't even imagine... Although to be honest, and it's kind of sad to say, but some of those people he hangs out with probably wouldn't even care if he told them anyway.

Gosh, I really feel bad about all those things I said about him at school now. He's had a tough life.

Anyway, we'll talk more about this at school... probably in a private location since I don't want the Hyuuga to know about this.

It should be fine that we hang out at school... since I'm technically, kind of sort of your brother. Regardless of anything that happens, just letting you know that I have your back.

My hacking skills are top of the line, so you can trust that no one will catch me making a copy of the file. IF they do though, I will just say it was an accident, and I was just trying out this new keylogger thing I downloaded for an online game to figure out my own password which I forgot, and didn't realize that it would work on the school system. Curiosity killed the cat, I tried it out just for fun and thought downloading a notorious member of the school's file would be cool. I wouldn't be lying anyway about this... so it's fine. My hacking skills give me the moral responsibility in this case. I didn't have to do this if I didn't want to.

Still... I didn't think the school would be so stupid as to use a system that uses only one type of... meh. Sort of complicated to explain to you in e-mail. I'd type too much.

Still. Trust me, I won't tell anyone that I ever did something like this. I know the Hyuuga would probably kill me if he found out, and I don't want to die so I'll be careful.

Still, if he messes with you at all, let me know okay?

Talk to you at school.

Your cool bro,

SHika

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

My plans as of currently is to make this a series of one-shots that are connected to each other, but not chronological.

So I guess I'm kind of writing each chapter as kind of like an episode of a drama.

I'm also challenging myself by purposely setting the goal of having it so that each chapter must start out with a girl entering a bar/restaurant.

The main action of each chapter must also end with the girl leaving the bar/restaurant.

Other pieces of the story are all considered essentially 'additional pieces' to provide more depth to the story but also can be considered critical to understanding what's going on.

In this chapter, there is the following:

A) Neji's treatment plan.

B) Shikamaru's e-mail to Tenten confirming that he did see the document, and is taking measures to try and hide it from being discovered that he hacked into the system and gave the information to Tenten

Hopefully it won't be troublesome to add too many different themes. And considering this is supposed to be a series of one-shots...

This is some pretty serious and dark things, I'm hoping to be able to add some light hearted stuff as well eventually.

I have some time on my hands recently so hopefully I'll update more. If not, it's probably because I'm working on yet another application for an internship position.


	5. Nara Cafe

**Author's Note:** I felt that with the seriousness of the last chapter, I'd add some humor in this one. This piece has to do with neither of the main characters however, but instead focuses on Shikamaru... and adds Temari. I don't state the names of the characters in this piece, but I think anyone familiar with the Naruto characters should be able to tell right away.

If not, then the boy behind the counter is Shikamaru and the girl is Temari. It also takes place at a cafe rather than at a bar this time. It is also more humorous and less super-serious.

I've updated and changed some things around for the last chapter.

This chapter is really short. I apologize for that. Hopefully I'll make the next one longer if anyone is even interested.

Regardless this chapter was fun to write.

**Disclaimer: **I honestly don't own these characters. Their creators was a man much more brilliant than me... I can barely utter his name and I think if I met him in real life I would promptly fall over in a faint.

* * *

><p>A girl walks into a cafe. It is early morning, and not a lot of people are here during such an early hour... especially in this town. Most people don't even get up till at least 10am.<p>

'Lazy bastards.'

The girl takes out her laptop, and deposits it on an empty table at a booth near the corner. The person who is working at the coffee stand appears asleep.

'Humph. He should be glad I don't report his behavior to the manager. Fortunately for him I have better things to do with my time.'

She opens up the laptop and turns on the system. It loads fairly quickly. It looks fairly expensive and state-of-the-art. This is not the type of machine someone without much money would be able to afford. However, her motions and the way she handles it states she views it as merely an object and nothing of importance... as though it didn't matter that it might cost someone not as well off an arm and a leg to afford.

The machinery is durable however. She's also purchased several warrantees.

Although the boy at the counter appears to be snoozing away, in truth he heard the girl come in.

'She better not tell the manager on me. I'm not _really_ asleep... just meditating. That's right. I'm meditating. It's not like she ordered coffee or anything. Women are so troublesome... sheesh. Who the heck gets up this early if it's not for work or school? Stupid mom says this kind of job makes a boy into a man. Yeah, really. I'll believe it when it happens. This just sucks so much. I'm bored.'

The internet is turned on for the computer.

'From the smell of this place, the coffee is crap. At least the internet connection is decent. Good. Stay that way... or else.'

The boy, almost as though sensing something in the air, opens his eyes. He stares over at the girl sitting not too far away in the booth behind the laptop.

'Wow... she's hot. I wonder if she's single. Bet she has killer legs underneath those baggy pants. Nice chest too... sure wouldn't want to mess with her though. Those arms look like they could knock me out in 20 seconds flat. She's also blonde. I have on good account that blondes are troublesome bitches. I mean... look at Ino. She might be a babe... but she is so troublesome. Good thing she's after Sasuke and not me. I feel lucky for that.'

"Boy, what are you staring at? Haven't you ever seen a woman before?"

'Ooo, feisty one. Bet she's killer in bed too.'

"I've seen women before. I also know they're trouble. Look... you want a coffee? If not, I'll just go back to taking a nap. It's too tiring to wake up this early in the morning."

"You a homo?"

"A what?"

"A homo... you know. Are you into men?"

"I can't say if I am or I'm not. I suppose it doesn't matter unless you're interested in me. If you are I'll take you up on the offer."

'Good come-on line. Wasn't expecting that. Wouldn't date someone like this though... I suppose I'll just order a coffee.'

"I'll have one coffee. No sugar, no cream. But I want the best kind of coffee you have available at your store. It better be good, or else I'll tell your manager you were sleeping on the job... and sexually harassing the customer."

"Hmm... I recorded this conversation. You called me a name that could get you arrested for slander and racial profiling. You want to hear it?"

'Did he really record me? That's impossible... he couldn't have known that I would... Never mind. I'll leave this one alone. He seems too smart for his own good though. That might cause him trouble later on in life.'

"Never mind. Just get me the coffee."

"One coffee coming right up. I'd serve you some cat shit coffee but unfortunately you'll have to deal with Ecuadorian... or do you prefer Hawaiian?"

"Stop talking to me."

"Right away Madame."

"Quit antagonizing me. You really want to lose your job?"

She finally looks up and takes a direct look. She's surprised to see that he is quite handsome...

"So... do you want Ecuadorian or Hawaiian?"

"...Hawaiian."

"Alright. What size? We have tall, grande and venti."

"Grande..."

The girl goes back to her laptop, and begins to type away.

Within a few minutes the coffee is ready.

A bell rings. The girl looks up. She slowly gets out of her seat, and walks towards the counter. She takes the coffee cup in a swift manner and walks back to her seat.

"Yo. You forgot to pay."

"Oh, whoops. Sorry."

She walks back to the counter, quickly takes out her credit card and hands it over.

"We don't accept this kind. Only Mastercard or Visa."

"Damn. Oh well." She takes out another card.

"Umm... This one's also not..."

"Fine!" She takes out yet another one.

"Thank you for your purchase."

"Stop acting like a robot!"

The boy merely blinks for a few seconds. He hands her the receipt to sign.

"Do you have a pen?"

"Sure." The boy grabs a pen off the side of the table and hands it to her. She signs in a quick and deft manner and then proceeds to walk away with the pen.

"Could you leave that pen here? Other customers might need it."

She quickly walks back to the counter, plops the pen down in an abrupt manner and stalks back to her seat near her laptop.

She takes a look at her screen, and proceeds to curse up a storm.

'Damn! Who downloaded my key logging program!?'

The boy at the counter proceeds to nod off again.

"I wonder what's pissed her off now."


	6. What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

**Disclaimer:** I don't care what other people say... Masashi Kishimoto is a genius ninja with the skills of true kung-fu. Although I have absolutely no right to borrow his characters in any shape or form, this lowly one seeks to do so anyway. That being said, I don't own the character's names within this piece of fiction.

I don't even claim to own the AU version of Neji, Tenten, Naruto and Hinata as written within this piece just because in my mind, they kind of own themselves.

That being said, here's another chapter of the story that comes out of the void that is my brain.

**Author's Note:**

****I have absolutely no idea where I'm going with this. The chapters are one-shots with no chronological order, somewhat connected possibly. They just pop into my head darn it... considering this is kind of just a free-writing for-fun exercise type gig, I really don't plan ahead at all.

Feel free to provide any suggestions on improving my writing. I won't guarantee any particular pairing.

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><p>A girl walks into the bar. That girl is me. As I walk across the dimly lit room… all I smell is the cheap perfume of a scantily dressed woman in her mid-30s who walks by me, brushing up against my left arm. I move aside slightly and briefly glance back. The woman doesn't turn around to look at me, but goes over to a table full of men. She sits down with them and starts chatting.<p>

I look back in front of me. My paranoia increases as I notice all the stares of various men in the room. I'm not dressed like that woman… but somehow to them it doesn't seem to matter.

I ignore their stares. My target isn't them. I scan across the crowded room. I notice the screens on the television sets back behind the bar area and realize several of those people are hidden due to the moving bodies dancing to the music that pervades the room. I start to walk over to the bar area.

The music suddenly changes from Adele's Rolling in the Deep, to Kelly Clarkson's What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger. A few girls who look barely out of their teens whoop and start singing along somewhere. From the sounds, it seems that it is open-mic night. A few cat calls and boo's rise from a crowd of people to the left.

Suddenly, I see his familiar face… But something is wrong.

'Neji… you're back. Why didn't you call me? And why do you look like that?'

I walk closer. A bunch of men come up to me and start asking some questions. I ignore them. They mutter about me being rude. I don't care. I ignore them completely. One of those guys mutters to his friends something about women thinking they are 'all that', or something to that effect. They leave me alone though, and move towards the dance floor area. Good riddance.

I am getting closer to the bar. The face I am focusing on becomes clearer. It is hard to recognize his countenance. Such an expression seems to me, so strange on the face of the person I have always known to the strongest person when it comes to hiding his emotions. The angrily quiet boy always held himself back until the strike, the silent young man always nodded calmly and rarely frowned or smiled. Neji was always one to hide himself behind a mask, which hid the defiance he had against a world that threw barrage after barrage of turmoil in his direction.

Although not always perfectly behaved, he always held himself with the stance of someone of noble birth. Even growing up the way he did had not destroyed that part of him. However… today, in this dingy little bar, Neji's entire being looks like that of a haggard beggar.

Even at his worse, Neji had never looked this way. Even in the aftermath of his wild, extravagant parties. Even after nights of drug use that nearly took his life. None of those instances did Neji ever lose the magic of his noble atmosphere which always surrounded him like some kind of impenetrable shield.

Not this time though. His usual noble atmosphere has completely disappeared. Instead what replaces it, is this aura of utter despair and faded hope radiating from his person in waves so intense it almost surprises me no one else at the bar sitting there seem to notice. Perhaps this is only because this is the man whom I had been utterly in love with for close to 5 years. Somehow it's rather difficult for me to even realize that it really has been that long since I've seen him.

Maybe talking about him every day with Hinata and Naruto has made his presence with me, even though I haven't seen him in such a long time. He also called occasionally, or at least, he did until a few months ago.

Looking at him now, I can only be happy that he is somehow alive. He looks incredibly broken though. Considering all the things he's been through in his life, and the amount of strength and resiliency I've known him to have. This image of him scares me a lot.

I walk up to the bar. I tap him on the shoulder gently.

"Neji. Hey… what's wrong?"

And that's it. Swallowing embarrassment at being so utterly inadequate in saying something more appropriate as an opening comment, I try to cover myself.

"I'm happy you're back. I was really worried about you."

They say going into the battlefield changes a boy into a man. What appears before my eyes now is that a perfectly good man has somehow been turned into a living ghost. What he's had to suffer through? I wonder this. Why this particular time, he appears unable to bounce back.

I pat him on the back after that, the kind that I used to give him all the time.

Hoping the familiarity would wake him up, I smile the way I used to smile.

Everything would suddenly be okay, if perhaps a cool aloof comment would come from him.

Everything would be okay, if he would say some words in a sarcastic but calm way that he always used with me.

Even in this moment, where he obviously needs me the most, for some reason I can't help but only think selfish thoughts.

He looks up at me, after taking the shot that had been placed down in front of him. It seems like he doesn't even recognize me.

His eyes light up.

"Hinata!"

"No… Neji… It's Tenten. Hinata's back at the house. You're drunk. You shouldn't drink anymore. I'll ask Naruto to come get you. Hold on, I'll call."

He doesn't seem to hear me at all.

"I ran away you know… ran away like a coward. Maybe Naruto's wrong… I can't change my fate. It's my fault that I ever even bothered to expect more. What good has come of it? Everyone I knew… the people I thought I was helping… They… I can't deal with it all anymore. I… I just can't. I won't be able to find a job…"

A few minutes pass. I'm calling the house number, and Hinata answers. A few minutes pass. Naruto shows up in his car. A few more minutes pass. I tried to take the drink away from him, but Neji didn't take that very well.

Naruto enters the bar, takes one look at Neji, and starts shouting at him. He doesn't take this very well either.

A few minutes later, a fight almost breaks out. I get in the way somehow.

I don't know how long of time passes.

I wake up in my own bed, in the house I share with Naruto and Hinata who are married now.

My head hurts like crazy, but nothing I can't handle.

I look up, towards the window and realize that Neji has been standing there all along.

I stare at him for a few minutes and notice that he's not wearing his ring.

Even though I don't make a sound, somehow he realizes that I'm awake.

He turns around, and the look on his face is one I never thought I would ever see again. I haven't seen this look since junior high. This is the look of someone who thinks that there's absolutely no hope at all for the future.

It's a frightening look. I smile at him though, and this changes his expression.

He walks over to the bed, and kneels down.

"I'm sorry…"

He goes towards his hand, as though to take something off. He touches the finger where he used to wear his ring, back before he left.

There is nothing there.

He closes his eyes and clutches his fists.

"I… I'm sorry."

Even despite everything… somehow this moment is precious. Even though he lost his ring, I feel rather glad somehow that he did.

And above all… in spite of everything, I'm just very glad that in spite of everything, somehow…

At least he's sober.


	7. Motel Bar

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters. Masashi Kishimoto is the person whose mind these characters originated from, and he is a far superior master of this writing thing than I ever could be. Fortunately he's also nice enough to allow others to try their hand at using his creations for inspiration and thus he is a very cool dude and deserves full mastery over the universe of Naruto. This humble sham of a fanfic author can only hope to do a small shred of justice to these characters within the AU setting which is nothing more than a fictionalized version of California from the perspective of a person who doesn't completely understand that State within the Union. Then again... who can claim to understand such a place? Without being a liar, drunk or high...

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

I have to thank the people who have reviewed my story so far.

There's a couple of things I have to say before I give any shout-outs.

There have been people who have been pestering me in making this fanfic into one pairing or another.

I am a fan of characters (or characters as I perceive them). Although I like the traditional pairings, I like exploring possibilities.

Writing for me is all about exploring possibilities. That's what makes it fun for me.

Feel free to 3 over one pairing or another and it will give me incentive to write more for that pair's interaction.

However, relationships are way too dynamic. In liberal societies of this day and age, women should never be content to just be bagged victims without recourse for justice. That's kind of my personal view.

I'm sort of exploring that theme in this story actually.

I 3 NejixTen the most, but it's not like I want Tenten to be such a girl where the only male friend she has is this one guy.

I hate it when people stigmatize a woman for even talking and being friends with a guy who is not her boyfriend/husband.

I also hate it when people victim blame women who get raped rather than use social pressure to have the guy take responsibility for his actions.

Women have fought too darn hard to go back to such a place where she gets beaten up if she talks to a guy outside of her immediate family, and by that I don't just mean physically.

I guess I'm kind of a feminist... if you couldn't tell that by the fact that I 3 female characters like Tenten and Temari.

The setting of this entire series of one-shots takes place in a fictionalized version of California.

My personal knowledge of the place comes from back in 1990 when I was 4 years old.

I have been back there since, but only a couple of times. There's probably a lot of factual inaccuracies given how much the culture probably has changed since then.

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><p><strong>Review Acknowledgments<strong>

Now for shout-outs to the people who reviewed, whom I very very much appreciate for their efforts.

DarkAnonymous324 - I'm glad you like the story. Without your review, I probably would have lost the courage to post another chapter. Thank you very much!

Erza Fullbuster LOVE - Gracias por tu atención. Es posible que fuera mas interacción entre Sasuke, Kiba y Tenten. Y además sea posible la interacción entre mas gente. Como Neji y Sakura y Sasuke y Shikamaru y Temari y Gaara y Ino y Hinata y Naruto y Lee y Gai y Kakashi... El mundo de Naruto es muy interesante. Todo es posible. If you review more, I might write another SasuxTen-ish chapter.

Leia -san - Thank you so much for your review! I appreciate your support ^_^!

Sasuke4Tenten - Ah... no guarantees when it comes to love and war. Tenten and Sasuke will definitely have an interesting relationship. I can guarantee you that. ;_;

NejiTen - Of course you would say that, lol. Get more NejiTen fans to _review _with more than just a short demand and I will add in more NejiTen interactions.

Why - Every single review is awesome regardless of content because it causes the thing called review count to go up.

I know that not everyone has the time to write out a detailed review. Thus I appreciate anyone who even bothers to write me a flame telling me it was annoying that I edited chapter order and somehow flooded your inbox.

ごめんね.

Fleeting Fetish - Thank you! Finally someone with some curiosity as to what is going on besides hormonal pairing teenage drama! Lol, not that hormonal teenage drama isn't interesting, but... yeah. He downloaded it... somehow. This chapter actually gives you tidbits of the 'what happened after that' story, with frustrating few details as to how it all went down due to who winds up presenting the information. Considering this is not in chronological order, my plan is to add bits more of the detail as to what happened as the story progresses. Once again, thank you so much for your review! And also, thank you VERY much for giving me 2 reviews, and constructive feedback. ^_^;

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><p><strong>A Girl Walks Into A Motel Bar<strong>

A girl walks into a bar. Her pink hair sways back and forth as she marches through a wide set of glass doors. She stops halfway through her determined walk, pauses and begins to look nervous. After a few seconds where she appears to be thinking things through, her face flashes a determined look. And thus, she is off.

With a new sense of conviction, she saunters through another set of glass double doors and into a bar area. There is a bartender there. An old and haggardly looking European man, he repeatedly looks distrustfully over at a long-haired Asian boy sitting at the counter. The boy appears to be doing nothing more than sipping a bottle of beer. The beer label reads 'Ichiban'.

"This is what's wrong with this country," the old man mutters, "These Asians. They won't even drink American beer. Act like they own the place. Damn Jap."

The girl stumbles. Her previous saunter and confidence ruined, she attempts to muscle up enough energy to keep walking towards the counter.

She takes a seat besides the Asian boy and requests the bartender for a Yueling Lager. He looks at her and smiles.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!"

The European man brings her a bottle, and sets down a glass full of ice.

"Please enjoy responsibly, young lady."

Sakura smiles politely at the old man.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome!"

The Asian boy is still calmly sipping his beer. It's almost as though the entire conversation in front of him never occurred.

Sakura turns over towards this boy.

"Hyuuga!"

He doesn't respond. He doesn't even turn towards her direction.

"Hyuuga Neji!"

He still doesn't respond.

"Neji Hyuuga!"

He continues to blatantly ignore her.

"That… is your name… right?"

He finally turns his head over to her.

"Yes. And you're Haruno right? What do you want?"

She looks incredibly angry that she's been ignored for this long. She is beginning to think that the old man has a point in being biased against Asians, if this is the type of customer he has to deal with on a daily basis.

"Look. I just need to talk to you about something."

"Sure. Go ahead. Talk."

"Okay, stop acting like you're too cool to talk like a normal person. You're not that hot, you're not that special. Just stop doing that."

"This is just the way I talk… If that's all you want to talk to me about, this conversation is done."

Sakura looks horrified. Then she shakes her head a bit, and re-composes herself.

"I need to know what your relationship is with Tenten."

Neji looks like her with a look as though she just said something stupid.

"That's none of your business."

Sakura pauses. She has a look that seems to imply that she trying to think of the right words to use.

"It is... actually. She's my friend."

Neji smirks.

"Don't tell me you're interested in me or something."

Sakura once again, looks horrified.

"Not a chance! The one I like is Sasuke, and only Sasuke! Got that!?"

"I'm not Sasuke."

"I know!"

"That's all you need to know."

"You're not answering my question at all. You're such a jerk!"

"And Sasuke's a complete nice guy I take it."

Sakura pauses at this. She thinks about it, and starts getting a sheepish look on her face.

"… He's also a jerk."

Neji snorts.

"But he can be very sweet when he wants to be!"

Neji looks at her, "You're setting yourself up for trouble with that one. Men who have two faces often have multiple women."

"I… I know that he might… but… At least he's not a gay guy who keeps his hair nicer looking than a girl!"

Neji looks affronted by this.

"I'm not homosexual."

"Then why do you dress like one?"

"Look… if you're just going to sit there and judge me, perhaps its best that you leave. You're kind of giving me a headache."

"That's probably because of how much you drink."

"That has nothing to do with it."

"You're drunk."

"I'm not."

"How many beers have you had?"

"I think this is my second bottle. Are you finished with yours?"

"No…"

Sakura's bottle isn't even half-way finished.

"Is it any good?"

"It's alright. Look. Neji. I'm sorry about being judgmental and ornery with you earlier. I just want to know what your relationship is with Tenten, because I want to be sure she's not interested in Sasuke."

Neji seems finishes the rest of the bottle, and seems to consider this.

"If I answer your question, will you leave here and leave me alone?"

Sakura looks offended, but after a few seconds, sighs.

"Yea, fine. I promise to leave if you give me an honest answer about your relationship with her."

"Well… I'm not her father. I'm not her brother. To my knowledge we are not related by blood. There was one point in time she almost became my sister. However… due to a series of complicated circumstances where she orchestrated her kind-of-sort-of-brother to completely violate my privacy and got found out by our school administration… she was no longer able to become a part of the Hyuuga family but instead joined the family of a gym teacher of ours whose name I shall not disclose. That family also had a son who eventually became my best friend. He's joined the army. Thus sums up our relationship to each other… Is this enough information for you?"

Sakura stares at Neji. She blinks for a few seconds. Her mouth is slightly open, as though blown back by the sheer pressure of the volume of words and information Neji just threw at her all at once. Within seconds, about half of that information is lost to her. Thus she automatically responds with a simple and short question.

"… What?"

"I am not repeating all of _that_ again. You told me to tell you about my relationship to Tenten. I did that."

"But… it doesn't really answer my question satisfactorily."

"You didn't mention you had to be satisfied with my answer. You only specified that I had to be honest. I was very honest, almost more than I should have been actually. You should feel privileged. I don't usually talk this much."

"None of what you told me assures me that she wouldn't be interested in Sasuke…"

"Neither would anything else I tell you with regards to that. She might be interested in him and me at the same time, or in neither of us. Even if I somehow had some information in regards to this. It's not really my place to tell you. You should ask her in person. Aren't you her friend now? From what I understand you two are somewhat close."

"I did."

"What did she say?"

"She said… She told me 'It's complicated'. What kind of an answer is that? Then when I kept bugging her, she told me to ask you."

Neji looks at Sakura, and seems surprised. After a few seconds, he asks curiously.

"So… How long did it take you to leave after she said that?"

"Well… as soon as I figured out where you were, I made my way here. I had to rush because I wasn't sure you'd still be at this location by the time I got here so…"

"In other words, you left pretty much right away."

Neji's tone and expression seems to convey something like respect or pride. Sakura instantly feels affronted by this tone but doesn't say anything about it.

Neji meanwhile is wondering why he didn't think to use such a simple answer to have Sakura leave sooner.

"Oh fine! I won't bother you anymore about this. I'll just ask Ino. She probably knows some things, considering she's childhood friends with this person named Shikamaru who somehow always seems to know everything…"

She notices Neji looking at her expectantly.

"Leaving! Gosh, you don't have to look at me like I'm crazy or something!"

"By the way, how did you know that I'd be here? I didn't tell anyone where I would be."

At this, Sakura makes that sheepish expression again. Somehow it is so adorable, Neji almost doesn't feel annoyed.

"I left after I got your cell phone number. I tracked you down via this program that locates your cellphone and then…"

"Tenten gave you my cellphone number?"

Sakura looks very nervous now.

"Well… not exactly… I, uh, borrowed her phone to call my parents… and… happened to see your number!"

"…"

Sakura fidgets a little under the blank and shocked look that quickly turns into an annoyed/angered expression. Then he appears to calm down, and in a smug tone he asks.

"So… you've been stalking me I see. Are you sure you don't like me more than Sasuke. Or do you do this to him as well?"

Sakura looks panicked and starts to protest. However, Neji interrupts her before she can get a word in edgewise.

"Oh, and I have a better answer for the question you asked about my relationship with Tenten."

Sakura looks curious and wary at the same time.

"My relationship with Tenten is that of mutual protection."

Neji waits for a response.

"Protection…? From what?"

Neji employs a mischievous expression that strangely causes Sakura's mind to go down a dark alley where people do raunchy things to each other. Neji holds her gaze, turns in her direction, and leans forward towards Sakura while her mind is in such a state. He slowly leans forward bit by bit, and grins just a bit more with every bit.

As Neji leans forwards towards her, Sakura feels strangely uncomfortable and yet also strangely turned on at the same time.

All of this happens in the space of but a few seconds before his words tear that scene down like a tractor driving through a well painted high-school drama backdrop made of cheaply recycled paper.

"In our, very special relationship, we are supposed to protect each other… from annoying stalkers like you."

He suddenly goes back to his original position, sitting in that aloof manner and curling one hand around the now empty beer bottle. Although this time, he also appears a bit philosophical and whimsical in his expression.

"But she really threw me under the bus this time. I'll have to come up with an appropriate way to punish her for her failure to protect me properly. I'm rather looking forward to it."

His tone is such that it seems both serious and yet not quite serious at the same time and still carries some of that intense sensual atmosphere that he clearly only used to provoke Sakura from earlier.

She is incensed!

She downs the rest of her beer quickly, tipping back the bottle and almost choking on the drink.

"I like Sasuke! Got that? Uchiha, Sasuke! He may be an asshole, but at least he's not a tease like you! You… You jerk! I pity Tenten for having to deal with you! You… Idiot! Bastard! You're nowhere as good as Sasuke! You hear me? Sasuke's much better than you!"

She jumps out of her stool and runs out of the room, colliding with the glass door on the way out. Totally embarrassed, she turns around to glare at Neji, who only looks faintly amused that she just ran into the glass door.

She huffs, looks at the words by the handle. And pulls the door open, before marching out with her hair slightly messy and dress slightly crooked from sitting on the bar stool.

Despite his general annoyance of her character on the whole, somehow Neji can't seem to help but think this is cute. In some ways she reminds him of both Tenten and Hinata.

A few minutes later, the sound of a creaky door drifts into the bar room.

The pink haired girl's presence begins to dissipate from the room.

Neji makes sure that Sakura is out of earshot and that the bartender is in the backroom before he reaches into the left pocket of his white leather jacket.

He dials a number on the cellphone and then sets the phone on the counter with the speaker on.

"Yo. Uchiha."

"Hyuuga. What's up?"

"Your girlfriend just showed up."

"… Uh… which one?"

"The pink haired nurse?"

"Oh yeah… her. What did she want? And how did she find you?"

"She wanted to know what my relationship was with Tenten. And as for how she found me… you might not want to know."

"Tell me."

"She stalked me."

"Did she stab you with a needle?"

"No…"

"Then you're lucky."

"I always thought my life was cursed until I met you. I can at least dodge the knives Tenten throws at me."

"She stalked you?"

"Yeah… I need your protection Uchiha. I know I'm not in much of a position to ask a favor of you right now so… how about I pay for the meal and the drinks?"

"Sure. It's a date."

"What place, what time?"

"Fan and Fang bar. At 9pm. I'll be there soon, I'm in the area."

"Nice. See you there."

"Oh yeah and Hyuuga…"

"Yes?"

"Want to do a threesome with me?"

Neji chuckles, but doesn't otherwise respond. He hangs up, and orders another drink.

This time it's a bottle of non-alcoholic Sprite.


End file.
